Year , Lectionary
“All due respect to Elijah but maybe he's not the one to pay attention to in this particular case. Instead let's turn our attention to God”
“at some point in our lives we're all going to be Saul: broken, vulnerable, and nevertheless anointed by God”
“how have we seen God working in and through someone who might not see herself or himself that way? How can we affirm the goodness in another person and encourage them to respond to God's call for their lives?”
“today I'm encouraging you to focus on one aspect of this miracle, this is the aspect of Naaman's gratitude”
“How have you resisted and/or given in to the demands of Empire in your own stories? What would it mean to reject the pork and accept the consequences in your own time and place? In our own time and place?”
“this is a good example of how God has bound salvation to his sacraments but he himself is not bound by his sacraments”
“What is happening here is that Paul is turning from the local Jewish synagogue to the pagans. What is not happening here is that Paul is turning his back on his Jewish brothers and sisters and refusing to bring the gospel to them. That's just not the case.”
“So that's the authentic gospel. Preaching the Good News, making disciples, exhorting people to persevere in the object of faith, and also always having the cross as a part of the Good News.”
“it's an excellent example of how we really do need the Magisterium of the Church, the bishops and the Pope, to guide us in the interpretation of difficult passages like Acts 15”
“it's not Peters natural powers, right, it wasn't because he was such a great speaker that 3 thousand people converted. It's because he was filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit. This is, this is a supernatural grace that's given to him through Pentecost and in his preaching.”
“Unity is a mark of the authentic apostolic Church and Luke expresses that by saying that they were ‘of one heart and one mind’”
“every one of us is irreplaceable because only you can do that for which God has created you, no one else can and no one else will”
“The idea that holiness and blessing can be attached to material objects and communicating through material objects, that's not a pagan idea, that's a Jewish idea, it's a biblical idea”
“every time we think, speak or act, the King of Kings is present and to him alone will we give account”
“So what are the needs around us today? Who are the Hellenist widows who cry out for ministry at their own tables? The young, the old, those in prison or hospital, those who crave the nourishment of the sacraments though they might not fit into our traditional structures. How will each of us respond? How will we reach out?”
“So just as Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of his executioners, so Stephen prays for the forgiveness of his executioners”
“Sometimes the persecution, the crisis, the health challenges may be what God needs in order to take us to the next level of success. For many times we do not progress when we insist on remaining in our comfort zones.”
“Are we intimidated by new members who come to our church? Are we territorial as Christians? Do we feel like we must always be the ones at the top and no one else must come to shine like us or shine with us?”
“we imagine ourselves tackling the problems of tomorrow with the resources of today and we know that the resources we have today won't handle that problem of tomorrow and the Lord says 'that's right, it won't but I'll give you what you need tomorrow'”
“Who are the ones that you are called to give strength to so that they too can be victorious?”
“So the Ten Commandments in their essence are really about holiness. How to be holy. God is calling his people to be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests and the Ten Commandments are basically the code for living out a life of holiness.”
“When we play to our strength in doing God's work we start at times to think it's all about us, that we have the power, we have the strength, it's us saving. But when God plays through our weakness...then we know it must be God, it must be God doing this great work.”
“it's not him repenting of something that he was going to do that was wrong, it's him relenting of something he was going to do that was just”
“Christianity isn't just about the cross. It's about the Trinity because the Trinity is the mystery of who God is in himself. The cross is the mystery of what he's done for us but the Trinity is the mystery of who he is.”
“we have to recognize if someone sinned against you, that there needs to be a process of reconciliation that begins with one-on-one and then may involve others as well, all with the interest of truth and charity in mind”
“We have seen the cross. We have seen how far God can go and how low he will stoop to save us.”
“The institution of marriage is not a human institution, it's not merely a human institution. It's a divine institution which God himself has ordained from the dawn of creation.”
“And so on this first Sunday of Lent, as we hear the story once again of God blowing breath into a lump of clay and we think about once again of God blowing breath into some dry bones, we know that in the midst of all that is happening, ‘dem bones can rise again”
“God gives us the gift but it's God's and God ultimately is going to ask us to give it all back to him again”
“It's a prophecy of the new creation and of the fact that at that time God is gonna come and he's gonna judge between the nations, between the righteous and the unrighteous...there's gonna be an end to warfare, it's going to be a time of peace, a time of salvation”
“by ignoring and not naming the injustices in our nation and also by silencing others from doing so, this in effect is actually sowing hatred and division”
“So God himself in the Old Testament, notice this isn't Acts, this isn't Paul, this isn't the New Testament, in the book of Isaiah describes a mission to the Gentiles. A mission to the nations in which the remnant of Israel goes out to the nations.”
“Time to get to work, Ebed-melech, because the prophet's voice, that's our salvation. They will help us to understand what it truly means to be the children of God, servant of the Lord Jesus Christ”
“Today we, Church, have to ask what is it that we are busy about? Where do our concerns lie? Are we truly aware and concerned about our sisters and brothers, our neighbors? And do we know that our own actions as individuals have some strong repercussions on the body as a whole?”
“This scene described in Nehemiah chapter 8 witnesses to the power of God's word to speak to, to unite, and to rally us as a people”
“it's the nature of God to be free and generous and overflowing even the boundaries that God has created”
“I still find myself chafing against this reading. Even taking one trait at a time this woman or women are still defined not for themselves but for what they do for others, they're valued for the work they do not for who they are.”
“when you see wisdom personified in the Old Testament, who is it referring to? Who is this other divine agent? Well, ancient Church Fathers would say it's the son, right. It's Christ the wisdom of God.”
“Let us be brave enough to be the light as we free a new dawn”
“If you see someone who has a healthy relationship with their own father or their own parents the likelihood that they'll have a healthy relationship with their children is increased”
“The Spirit is here. The Spirit is ready and a closed door is no barrier. But a closed heart is. We have to choose to let her in.”
“Through the Holy Spirit we receive power not to be passive onlookers staring at the cloud but to become an active cloud of witnesses and ministry with the living Christ who is among us”
“although Peter does escape from prison in this particular instance, notice that the passage reveals that Peter is conforming his life to the sufferings of Jesus”
“David is an anticipation of another priest-king in Jerusalem who will also restore the priesthood to all 12 tribes and it's not going to be a Levitical priesthood. It's going to be a Melchizedekian priesthood. And that priest is of course Jesus Christ”
“our 'Amen' should never end with a question mark...it should be an exclamation point”
“So today taste and see the goodness of God. Experience God with the entirety of your existence...use your body to carry God's love out into the world where others can see it and touch it”
“So today taste and see the goodness of God. Experience God with the entirety of your existence...use your body to carry God's love out into the world where others can see it and touch it”
“For Paul the term 'saint' is his favorite way of referring to believers on earth who are living right now who have been baptized into Christ. That's all it takes for Paul, right. You are called to be a saint by virtue of your baptism and faith in Jesus Christ.”
“some people are saying, when they say 'I belong to Paul' what they mean is 'I was baptized by Paul' or 'I belong to Apollos' they might mean 'I was baptized by Apollos.' And so Paul is saying that's not how this works. If you're baptized, you're baptized into Christ.”
“true radical conversion; putting our lives on the line for those who have less than us, those on the margins”
“So there's this paradox that's built into the very Gospel itself. It's ultimately the paradox of the cross, that the mystery of the incarnation and the mystery of the cross are both mysteries, as Paul will say in Philippians, of God's self-emptying”
“when Paul is writing in first Corinthians chapter ten, he sees that history as also a mystery that points beyond itself ultimately to the mystery Christ, the mystery of the Church and the mystery of the sacraments”
“So what he's doing here is he's drawing an analogy between the body of Christ that's represented by the one bread and the body of Christ that's constituted by the Church itself. So he's not just talking about the mystery of the Eucharist here, he's also talking about the mystery of the Church.”
“I think this is actually a great chapter that helps remind us that yes, Paul is the apostle, yes Paul is arguably the greatest theologian in the history of the church but ultimately too Paul is a pastor...he's trying to shepherd this church through its pastoral practical problems, issues, controversies and moral decisions”
“because wine was not as readily available in all places as it is to us nowadays, although the Eucharist would be celebrated with bread and wine, it was not the case that there was enough wine to communicate that or to give the chalice or the cup to everyone participating in it”
“Incorporation into the body of Christ is a gift of the Holy Spirit that comes to us through baptism. It's a supernatural unity that is manifested in the one church.”
“Not all the charisms are miraculous and as extraordinary and visible, in that sense, as tongues or miracles...They're not for show, they're not for display, right, they're not for people to kind of demonstrate their own personal holiness.”
“So the Gospel isn't something just to be believed, it's something to be clung to, right, to hold on fast to, it's something to live within”
“So he's trying to help them see that when you deny one article of faith like the resurrection of the dead at the end of time, it actually affects the other articles of faith like the bodily resurrection of Jesus”
“Paul is emphasizing on Jesus' role as the one who is going to restore creation. As the one who inaugurates a new creation. As the one who liberates fallen humanity from original sin, the sin of Adam and all of its effects”
“And it's fascinating because the image that he's using there for the resurrected body is he's comparing it to a garment that we can take off or put on”
“Paul's missionary activity according to Acts is never just he's a really good preacher, he's really persuasive...but he also performs signs and wonders to back up his preaching. He performs miracles that testify to the truth of his preaching.”
“Notice here Paul doesn't say they crucified 'Jesus of Nazareth' or even they crucified 'the Christ.' He says they crucified 'the Lord of Glory.'”
“And therefore, if the Church is really the new Temple of God it too has to have both holiness, it needs to be set apart - that's one of the marks of the Church, but it also needs to have oneness. It needs to have unity.”
“everything at the end of the day is a matter of God's grace and at the end of the last day, the final day, it's going to be God and God alone that judges. And that's really what St. Paul is reminding the Corinthians”
“according to Paul, right, if you were baptized, if you have faith then your body belongs to Christ and he paid for it with the infinitely valuable price of his blood which makes any desecration of the Christian body that much more serious, that much more grave”
“What he's effectively teaching here in first Corinthians 7 is detachment, living a spirit of detachment now from the world that we know is eventually going to pass away”
“this text really is going to lay the foundation for the practice, the esteem of consecrated celibacy and virginity and the practice of it in the Christian church”
“Here Paul is describing his method of evangelization, his method of preaching the gospel as both universal and we might say enculturated”
“it’s the vision of God that we most long for”
“what John is referring to when he speaks of love is an action, it's a choice that you make, right. We are, we don't just feel love, we do it.”
“that's really what salvation is all about, it's not about not going to hell, it's about loving God”
“The commandments at the end of the day are not rules to be kept, they are the ways we love God or love our neighbor”
“What is the reason for my hope in a very painful time in our world? It's the fact that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.”
“what Peter is saying here...is that the paschal mystery of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection in some way corresponds to baptism, it's tied to the sacrament of baptism which now saves you”
“Paul is telling the Thessalonians 'you need to get ready for Advent'...the final Advent, for the Second Advent. And the way you get ready for the Second Advent is to grow in charity and to walk in holiness.”
“So the point of Paul's exhortation here, the point of Paul's eschatology is to give the Thessalonians comfort in the face of death”
“So there's that tension between the definiteness of the final judgment that we know it's going to happen but then the uncertainty of the exact timing”
“you'll see saints like Therese or others who clearly live lives of virtue say 'I'm the worst of sinners'...this is not false humility at all, actually. What it is is a recognition among the saints of just how grave their sins really are”
“But for Paul, salvation is...life in Christ as opposed to life outside of Christ, it is the bodily resurrection of the dead and all those things, and escaping you know the punishment of Gehenna, but it's more than that. Salvation involves knowledge of the truth.”
“He wants Timothy to grow in virtue. He wants him to acquire the virtue of righteousness and piety and gentleness and patience and faith and love. But in order to do that he's going to have to train like an athlete, it's not going to come easy.”
“our victory over our human weakness begins by the acknowledgement of that weakness, when we acknowledge the weakness then we see the grace of God that is available to us”
“So Chrysostom points to the ending of second Corinthians as a proof text, as an example of the fullness of the divinity of the Holy Spirit which was a crucial text for the development of the doctrine of the Trinity”
“Do we think of our lives as lives in Christ, living in between two worlds, or do we tend to think of ourselves and make our decisions as if this world was our home or, or our ultimate destiny?”
“so that, just like he becomes a sin offering for us, we might become righteous for him so that we might become the righteousness of God”
“This flows right out of Paul's statements that we will be judged according to what we've done while we're in the body, not what happens after, but while we're in the body. It's human life that is decisive for how we'll spend eternity.”
“So we often don't think of Paul as like a philanthropist or a humanitarian, raising money but that's part of what his mission was”
“And what holiness is in its essence...means to be set apart. Set apart from sin, that's the negative connotation but set apart for God, that's the positive connotation.”
“it's precisely these traditions, whether they're oral or written, that will enable the Thessalonians to have endurance in the face of opposition, right? To stand fast in the face of error or confusion or the kinds of errors that we see described earlier on in the letter.”
“So here Paul has another tradition. It's not a tradition about the second coming of Jesus or the Antichrist or anything like that. Here the tradition is if you're a Christian idleness is not an option for you.”
“So even though Paul himself doesn't use the language of ordination, this is in effect the reality what we would describe as Timothy's ordination to the sacrament of holy orders”
“Through baptism, dying and rising with Christ, a person is configured to Christ crucified and resurrected. And so each individual person, each individual Christian as a member of the body of Christ, for Paul, has a certain share in the sufferings of Christ.”
“So he reminds Timothy that when you're suffering, when you're facing tribulation, when you are undergoing trials, just remember: if you've been baptized you will reign with him. If you are patient, you will live with him in the resurrection.”
“We can never love God as God loves us but it should be the work of our lives, our entire life to try”
“So when Paul describes Jesus as 'the image of God,' in effect what he's doing is saying that Christ is the new Adam, he's the new man, he's the beginning of a new humanity and the inauguration of a new creation”
“So, the same thing's true about Christ. In his humanity he's an icon of the invisible God, right? He makes visible the invisible reality of God, he reveals him. But it also means he's human.”
“Christ intended for the afflictions that he experienced and endured on Calvary, on Good Friday, and this is the mystery, to continue in his mystical body that is the Church on earth. And if that seems mysterious, you're right. That's why Paul calls it a musterion.”
“He sees baptism as a death and a resurrection. He sees baptism as a transition from one sphere of reality into another sphere of reality, from the 'Old Creation' into the 'New Creation.' And he's going to make this clear as you go through the letter of the Colossians.”
“The reason we seek the things that are of Heaven is not because the Earth isn't good, it is good. God made it. But we seek the things of Heaven and things that are above because Christ is there.”
“In essence the Church is the Heavenly Kingdom of Christ...which is present on Earth in mystery, through the mystery of all those who belong to the Church in this Earthly realm”
“the catalyst, so to speak, for salvation are divine love and divine mercy. That's why God saves humanity, out of his love for humanity and out of his mercy toward us as sinners.”
“The mystery of the Trinity is the perfect example of unity and so that model of Trinitarian unity is what we seek to actualize in our lives in the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit”
“You're not just called to be a member of the parish register of Ephesus, of the church at Ephesus, right, not just called to be a member of the local church. You are called to righteousness and holiness, you're called to become a new person, to put on a new nature in Christ”
“So whenever Paul uses the language of 'walking' he's always talking about morality, what we call morality or ethics”
“people are so often looking for guidance, you know, 'how do I live a Christian life? What am I supposed to do? What kind of choices I should make?' Well, here's a tip: how about you read the Bible?”
“that's the basic point that he's trying to make in this passage, right? That if you are in Christ you are free from the law. You do not need to be circumcised in order to be saved.”
“You have your foot, so to speak, in two different worlds at the same time, right. Visibly you live in the old creation but, invisibly and sacramentally, you're now a member of the mystical body of Christ.”
“already in the first century AD the Eucharist is being described as a sacrifice. It's not just a meal, it's a sacrifice and not only is it a sacrifice but it's a sacrifice that surpasses the sacrificial animals and the sacrificial feasts of the Old Covenant”
“And here what we see being expressed is a very important Old Testament idea, namely that animal sacrifice in the Old Covenant was ultimately about a kind of visible ritual expression of obedience to God”
“many of the obstacles we encounter in life are not meant to be walls but rather stepping stones or ramps”
“I can't help but wonder here if the reason Hebrews ends this passage for today, not just with the Church Triumphant, but with the blood of Christ is because this isn't just about worship in general but about the Eucharistic assembly in particular”
“And what Hebrews is saying here is that God teaches his children as children, like a father instructs his son. Not just through education but through discipline.”
“When we read scripture, the logos of God, the Word of God, we're also encountering the logos of God, that is the person of Christ. Every time we read scripture with an open heart, we're actually encountering the Word.”
“So he's able to sympathize with us because he's fully human but he's able to redeem us and deliver us from it because he, unlike us, has the power to overcome sin”
“And here Hebrews says something very fascinating, this is one of the only times in the New Testament where we see the language of vocation or a call being used with specific reference to the call to the priesthood”
“through the eyes of faith the letter to the Hebrews is revealing to us that what looks like an execution is actually an ordination”
“What Hebrews is revealing here is that the priesthood of Jesus Christ and the sacrificial offering of Christ, although it takes place in time and in history, isn't bound by time and history because he takes that offering up into eternity as the high priest forever”
“the infinitely valuable blood of Christ which is poured out in love in order to atone, not just for the sins of all of the people in one year, but for the sins of all humanity and for all of human history”
“what the Ascension does, the mystery of the Ascension does, is it reveals how Jesus takes the earthly sacrifice of Calvary into eternity”
“the Ascension is an essential...part of the Paschal mystery because it takes the historical event of the passion and brings it into eternity”
“help us dear Lord to understand that those who are suffering are not them down there, they are a part of us, we are a part of them as all of us are one, meant to be one with you”
“The most beautiful thing you can see in this world are those whom God has made in God's own image and likeness”
“what James is doing, he's just drawing on the fact that if the prophets of the Old Testament could wait their entire lifetime and then even beyond their lifetime...for the fulfillment of their prophecies to take place then how much more should we Christians be patient as we wait for the fulfillment of the prophecies of Jesus”
“Paul expects long before his body is raised on the last day that his soul will be with Christ after his death”
“and you can see here that he conceptualizes any good work that the Philippians might have done, is actually Christ working in them”
“To become gospel partners for the long haul means choosing a life that does not run from tension, pain, or difference. It means seeking forgiveness where wounds remain tender. It means choosing reconciliation when resentment would be easier. It means allowing faith in Jesus Christ to shape not only what we believe but how we speak, how we listen, how we repair, and how we begin again.”
“So if you want a really beautiful uplifting letter of Paul, read the letter to the Philippians. If you want to hear Paul furious, read the letters of the Galatians.”
“He described salvation as being in Christ, not just with Christ, in Christ. So there's not just relationship with, there is union with Christ.”
“So according to Paul, what is the antidote to anxiety? It's in every situation by prayer and supplication, with what? Thanksgiving, to let your requests be made known to God.”
“I think many of us would, would recognize that prayer is important but we tend to forget the second part which is to pray to God not just with supplication...but with the prayer of thanksgiving, in other words gratitude”
“'Kingdom of God' in context actually could be translated completely legitimately as the 'Empire of God' because...it seeks to dominate every kingdom and every king in the world and subjugate the entire Earth to the kingship of Jesus Christ”
“in Revelation the key to unlocking the spiritual mystery is usually found in the Old Testament”
“So you see a new creation, number one. You see a new Jerusalem, number two. And then you also, if you look carefully here, you actually see he's also talking about a new exodus.”
“we can dare to open the door and start a life of reconciliation and encounter everywhere we are. We can lead the kingdom of God here and now with the conviction that God is present not just up in heaven, not just in the temple, but here between us, with us in his creation.”
“when the fathers and saints talk about our divinization, they mean that we remain human persons but we become partakers of the divine nature. But with Christ, right, he is a divine person for all eternity who assumes a human nature”
“So what the book of Revelation does is it...takes what we learn about in the gospel accounts of the resurrection and helps us to see the heavenly result of it, namely Christ seated as king over the universe”
“what John's seeing here is a vision of what we would call the saints, the saved in heaven. On the other hand, what he's seeing from a Jewish perspective is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, about his innumerable multitudes that would come from many nations”
“there's also a kind of implicit contrast between the Good News of the birth of Jesus who is God made flesh and savior of the world and Caesar who the pagans claimed to be a god, right, and the savior of the world through the establishment of the Roman Empire”
“So notice that Paul can describe his entire gospel as being 'the word of faith.' So for him the word 'faith' is kind of, in a sense, summarizes the Good News that he's sharing with the Romans.”
“if that becomes the catalyst, the springboard for the gospel going out to the pagans, then what will their acceptance of Jesus' messiahship mean but life from the dead”
“So all created things have their source, their origin in God and that's why he's inscrutable, that's why his judgments are unsearchable. That's why there's a transcendent element to God that we can never fully comprehend.”
“I can volunteer all I want anywhere I go, but I am a minister. I give my body as a living sacrifice.”
“Paul is presupposing that the Roman Christians are being called to spiritual battle. It's the battle against the darkness and the sin of this world and the battle against our own inclinations to sin that we all experience within our hearts and in our minds.”
“So even though Christians aren't under the Law, all the laws of Moses like circumcision, in the new covenant they still have to keep the Decalogue because the Christian vocation is to love and the Decalogue is all about love. It's about how to love God and how to love neighbor correctly.”
“Christianity should be the ultimate antidote to individualism. Paul's saying 'yeah you live and yes you're an individual but you don't live for yourself or to yourself. You live, you should live for Christ because he lived for you.'”
“Paul is going to use Abraham's faith and what he couldn't see as the model for a Christian living a life of faith”
“So what's Paul referring to here when he talks about the 'revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages'...the mystery is the identity and the mission of the Messiah”
“So baptism isn't just an act of forgiveness, it isn't just an act of cleansing, it's also an act of infusion. At our baptism God infuses his divine life into us. He gives us the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit and he pours into our hearts the gift of his love as well as the gift of faith and the gift of hope.”
“this is a Pauline biblical way of describing the Church's later doctrine of original sin. Namely that everyone who is born into this world, all human beings are born in a state of spiritual death, right. They are born deprived of the grace of original holiness”
“Baptism is that powerful because the Passion of Jesus was that powerful, right. Baptism is that filled with grace because the resurrection of Jesus was that filled with grace.”
“calling God ‘Father’ alone is an act of intimacy”
“According to Paul, salvation, in other words, isn't just something for humanity. Salvation is something that involves the whole universe, the whole cosmos.”
“our hopes are often much lower than what God's hopes for us actually are, so the Spirit will ask for more than we ask for ourselves”
“Jesus shows us what it looks like to live a life that is completely open both to God and the world. He shows us what it looks like when mercy and justice kiss. What it looks like to prepare a table big enough for our friends and our enemies.”
“In the Ascension what Jesus does is he takes the sacrifice that was performed out of charity, out of love in time on Calvary and he brings that offering of himself that takes place on Good Friday in time and space, he brings it into eternity”
“When Paul gives the list of things that can't separate us from the love of God, he lists sufferings, not sins”
“until the resurrection takes place at the end of time, we still in a sense live within the flesh and within this old world. So although we belong to Christ, we belong to the power of the Spirit in the new creation, we still have one foot in this world of sin and death in the flesh”
“Christians who are baptized already have the Spirit of God dwelling in them...but it hasn't fully manifested itself in the resurrection of their bodies just yet so they still experience suffering...though they really belong to the life of the new creation and they're journeying toward that life”
“this is just a great example of the fact that although Paul is the apostle of the gentiles, he in no way obscures or diminishes the Jewish identity of Jesus himself as well as the many gifts and privileges of the people of Israel as the chosen people of God”
“one of the first things that Christian evangelists had to establish was not just that Jesus was the Messiah but that he was from the house of David, that he was part of the royal family”
“just as in the human sphere both Jesus and his father are tecktons, they're builders, they build things, so too in the divine realm...the son and the father are also builders but in this case what Hebrews is saying, what is it that they built? Well, they built the universe”
“the danger was that some Christians were denying the fullness of Jesus's humanity and the fullness of his divinity and so the Church confessed Mary as Mother of God in order to safeguard the mystery of the Incarnation”
“because wine was not as readily available in all places as it is to us nowadays, although the Eucharist would be celebrated with bread and wine, it was not the case that there was enough wine to communicate that or to give the chalice or the cup to everyone participating in it”
“A lot of people think that Paul was the one who came up with the idea of baptizing the Gentiles and the door being open to the Gentiles...in Acts chapter 9, Paul's still persecuting the Church. In Acts chapter 10, it's Peter who first opens the door of salvation through baptism to the Gentiles.”
“So Paul's writing to this church at Philippi and what does he do? In one breath he both upholds Jewish monotheism, right, by quoting Isaiah 45 and at the same time makes clear that, implicitly, he doesn't say it, that Jesus is Lord and, who's not lord? Caesar.”
“So Paul's writing to this church at Philippi and what does he do? In one breath he both upholds Jewish monotheism, right, by quoting Isaiah 45 and at the same time makes clear that, implicitly, he doesn't say it, that Jesus is Lord and, who's not lord? Caesar.”
“Paul here emphasizes that it's the Spirit who both enables the church to be one in Christ and yet at the same time consist of many different kinds of people”
“what Paul is trying to say here in Ephesians 1 is that when Christ ascended into heaven he wasn't simply vindicated as the Messiah, he was also exalted in his humanity, this is really crucial, above all of the angels”
“So even though there's this great celebration of the coming of God to Jerusalem, we're not in the age of glory yet. There still is the shadow of the cross hanging over the presentation of Jesus in the temple.”
“He comes into this world through Mary, right, so she is, if he's the new Adam, she is the new Eve. But notice things are reversed, right. In the first order of creation, Adam comes first and then Eve comes into the world through Adam because she's created from his side in Genesis chapter 2.”
“So Paul's writing to this church at Philippi and what does he do? In one breath he both upholds Jewish monotheism, right, by quoting Isaiah 45 and at the same time makes clear that, implicitly, he doesn't say it, that Jesus is Lord and, who's not lord? Caesar.”
“When we take the scripture and the tradition together we realize that not only did Paul anticipate being martyred but he actually was martyred in the early Christian martyrdoms that took place in the 60s of the 1st century under the terrible and horrific emperor Caesar Nero”
“Like John the Baptist, we are called to gesture toward God. I use the word gesture to describe our human limitations. The incarnation is physical reality but it is also the greatest mystery, ineffable and untouchable, absolutely unpaintable.”
“what John tells us is that Jesus already knew who Peter was and what his role was going to be from the very first time they encountered one another”
“In this holy season of Advent let us allow the questions put to John the Baptist to resonate within our own lives: “Who are you? What have you to say about yourself? Why are you doing what you are doing?” These are what have been called redemptive questions, questions that seek to trigger a definitive awakening.”
“We follow the risen Christ who invites us to bring others into the sheepfold”
“True love does not turn inwards to satisfy its own desires, it is the ability to turn outwards towards others”
“It’s important to note that to give God glory is not to impart something that God does not already have, but rather to acknowledge the honour that is God’s due. It entails acknowledging and extolling what is already a reality.”
“God is the creator and giver of life. In this passage, God brings life and the community is asked to unbind. Healing requires participation, liberation, and communal courage.”
“What is that relationship, that comfort zone, that habit, that thing in me, about me that I need to let go of in order to yield fruits, in order to get to something greater?”
“let us think about how we are called to love and that, though it may be hard work, we have that support, we have community, we have others that we can lean on, and we have our faith to guide us”
“'I am the way.' Not a theory, but a person. 'I am the truth.' Not speculation, but revelation. 'I am the life.' Not mere existence, but communion with the living God.”
“God loves first and obedience is the form life takes when we remain in that love”
“The concept of shalom is deeply rooted in the covenant relationship between God and his people, where peace is seen as a divine gift resulting from obedience to God's laws”
“Pruning is painful, pruning is necessary though it's not always what we want”
“As hard as it is for us to have a heroic moment with some great sacrifice, it's even harder for us to stay, moment by moment in small self-sacrificial ways”
“So he's gathering up both the Feast of Passover into his passion, death and resurrection through the words and the Passover at the Last Supper and he's gathering up the kind of prayer and sacrifice and intercession that you see from the Jewish Day of Atonement into his Paschal Mystery as well”
“Will you allow yourselves to be those gifts that the Lord chooses to show his glory in our world?”
“We need to surrender our self-made kingdoms to be part of God's kingdom, one rooted in love, justice and community”
“So by Mary encouraging Jesus to perform this miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana, she was letting go of that exclusive relationship she had with Jesus and she was...taking up the responsibility of becoming the new Eve”
“Could I suggest that the best way to understand what Jesus did is to see it as a prophetic gesture or as an acted out parable of judgment”
“The Resurrection is not only victory over the tomb, it is the dawn of a new Eden, where God and humanity are brought together again.”
“The Resurrection is not only victory over the tomb, it is the dawn of a new Eden, where God and humanity are brought together again.”
“The Resurrection is not only victory over the tomb, it is the dawn of a new Eden, where God and humanity are brought together again.”
“Peter may have failed at the time of Jesus’ passion but faithful to the Good Shepherd, whose successor he became, Peter glorified God by laying down his life for the flock that Jesus had entrusted to him”
“The God whom John proclaims is not remote from the world but deeply engaged with it, not indifferent to human destiny but moved by love for it”
“Scripture says today that Jesus is tired. Perhaps he too is weary of the divisions and thirsting for a new community, the kingdom of God here and now. Here at the well, two tired, weary people meet and something miraculous happens. They don't judge one another.”
“Maybe God likes small things because it gives God a chance to show you his bigness. To show you that he is the one who's going to save the world and save your world. That you don't have to be big because he is big.”
“it’s about community but on the tip-top of that, it is about all of us following God”
“Our God is all powerful, there is nothing that is beyond his power. He chooses to reveal himself and to present himself to us whenever, wherever and however he wishes. It is not for us to determine, it is not for us to dictate.”
“the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is not just an instrument, but in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist we have the Giver of the grace, the Giver of the gift himself: Jesus Christ”
“the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is not just an instrument, but in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist we have the Giver of the grace, the Giver of the gift himself: Jesus Christ”
“People come into new and familiar relationships with assumptions and priorities. Our jobs as followers of Jesus is to pivot continually in our relationships to ensure we center ourselves in God's light and love.”
“I pray we have not become so desensitized to the harm done by powers, principalities and privilege because we are so much more focused on shaming the individual sinner, usually one serving as a scapegoat, than dismantling the powers and structures that make such shaming all too easy”
“So what's Jesus talking about here? He's teaching us the difference between true sight and true blindness. See, the Pharisees think that true blindness is physical blindness but Jesus is revealing here that true blindness is the inability to see that he has come from God and that he is in fact the savior of the world.”
“In Jesus Christ the light of God has been brought to us but this requires a response from us if we are to have a share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ”
“God invites us to rejoice wherever beauty, truth, goodness and repentance reveal themselves, even in younger brothers who squander their inheritance”
“What's Jesus doing? He's taking the prophets, the words of the prophets, and he's applying them to himself. He's revealing for the first time publicly in a homily that he himself is the Messiah and the time of the Messiah is now.”
“Do not wait until all the conditions are perfect, do not allow what you cannot do to get in the way of what you can do. Begin with what you can do now, come as you are and let God take care of the rest.”
“Mary is not the only one responsible for carrying Jesus around. As Christians we should all make a home for Jesus in us.”
“The kingdom is not a place. For that reason words such as “rule, reign, sovereignty or dominion” are a better translation. We’re talking about God’s sovereign and saving rule, longing to enfold his people and the whole world with love.”
“The final command of Jesus in today’s gospel would certainly have been difficult for the lawyer. This command is just as challenging for us today: 'Go and do the same yourself.' The next step is up to us.”
“I learned that hospitality is more than preparing a meal, it's an act of love, welcoming the stranger, breaking bread, and finding a place for everyone at the table. This is the way Jesus taught us to live.”
“Or another way we might look at it, in the ordinary the extraordinary was present. The same way in our own lives, ordinary as they might seem, just like with Christ, so much grace is in our routines.”
“As followers of Christ, we're called to risk our comfort and security on behalf of any member of our community, any member of the body of Christ who is besieged by civil or religious authorities”
“to live mindfully, attentively and wakefully isn’t just being vigilant to what is happening 'out there.' We must also be vigilant to what is happening within.”
“what Jesus is saying is, 'there's not going to be any salvation without tribulation first. There's not going to be any kingdom of peace without a time of division first. I have to cast the fire of judgment upon the world and go through the waters of the cross before we can reach the resurrection.'”
“Of what benefit is your smile if others do not see it? Of what benefit is your hug if others do not feel it?...Of what benefit is your wealth if you are surrounded by poor people? Remember you have been blessed to bless. You have been given to give.”
“there is no room for fence sitters in the Kingdom of God. There are no privileged entry permits to the eternal life which Jesus offers. You are either a player or a spectator. You're an actor in the drama of salvation or you're a member of the audience.”
“Humility is a virtue that's tricky to acquire because the more you focus on humility, the more self-centered you become and therefore you get no humility at all...We must come at humility by pursuing a different virtue. And what is that virtue? Selfless love.”
“So the call to holiness, the call to discipleship, the call to take up our cross and follow Jesus may for a handful of people involve doing great things for the Lord on the world stage. But for most of us it is the call to follow Jesus amidst the very ordinary things of life.”
“In the Gospels when you hear them talk about sinners it's a technical expression. It refers to people who were violating the law of Moses, who were violating the Torah and they were doing it in a public way and in a grave way.”
“One's character is revealed in every decision with how we handle small things such as our words, our time, our money, and our relationships”
“The rich man in Jesus's parable is not presented as being cruel to Lazarus or mistreating him. He was condemned for doing nothing, for seeing the miserable state of Lazarus and doing nothing about it. And when we do nothing, heaven is not easy to recognize.”
“Well, gratitude, it's about belonging. It's about seeing ourselves in relationship to the wider world and to our creator.”
“'Lord, increase our faith.' God says 'well, open your eyes and let me.'”
“If you see lots of darkness and sin and falling away from the faith, what do we do? Do we lose heart, right? Do we give up? Jesus says, 'no.' Your response to apostasy should be to pray constantly and not to lose heart, not to give up. To persevere in prayer.”
“the entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the very path of love and transformation. Our faith and its practice is meant to ground us and to form us in the exercise of love and then to give us the courage to put it out there for all to see.”
“How much more sacred is when Jesus encounters somebody. When Jesus comes in new life begins, you'll never be the same again.”
“When will Christ actually be consecrated to God? When is he going to be offered not as a symbolic sacrifice but as a real sacrifice to God? Well it's not going to be in his presentation in the Temple. It's going to be at the crucifixion”
“Discipleship often involves the unexpected”
“The resurrection is the victory of love. God loves us so much that we are alive and never dead.”
“But more than those life-changing moments I feel like creation is so filled with God's spirit that when we are able to see the extraordinary in the ordinary we realize that Christ is continuously coming in our lives”
“Before the final coming of the Son of Man there is a long journey to be faced. It will be marked by suffering and persecution but it will also be marked by the loving and guiding presence of a faithful God.”
“Sisters and brothers, how many of us have grumbled as we've carried our own crosses?”
“In this final hour on Calvary, we see a radically different kind of kingship than the world elevates. God's reign is not self-serving or seeking retribution...instead Jesus offers us a paradise of mercy that extends even to those whom we may not think deserve it.”
“Luke shows that searching, confusion, and delayed understanding are not signs of failure but are the way in which God’s saving work so often unfolds”
“We are witness to the physicality of Jesus who was wounded and who was hungry. How many of us here are wounded? How many of us here are hungry? And how many of us have arrived anyway?”
“The desert is a place of lack, the desert is a place of minimal resources. We cannot survive in the desert just on our own, we need the help of God, we need the help of one another.”
“Our business life has to be governed by the same ethical ideals, by the same moral principles that our religious life and our life of worship should be”
“As we reflect on our own baptism we reflect on our identity in Christ and what is expected of us based on that identity”
“If you want something you have to give something and that's what the season of Lent is all about. We want transformation and so the penance and prayer and almsgiving of Lent is all about transformation. It's not about oppression, it's about transformation.”
“So many reasons we give for which we are unable to spend time with God. We have the same conditions and we do other things. How much are we ready to let go?”
“I believe that the beatitudes of St. Matthew and St. Luke are antidotes to this problem, to these addictive things that can get the best of us, that can enslave us”
“This kind of love is not measured by what we hope to receive in return but by the boundless mercy we have already been given”
“Why don't we allow the planks in our eyes to keep us humble? Allow the planks in our eyes to, to remind us that we're just like everybody else who's making a mistake today.”
“So why does Jesus make the Apostles do this thing that would have taken time and effort? Well, it's because he is arranging the people at the feeding of the 5,000 according to the same kind of groupings that you find in the first Exodus from Egypt.”
“Maybe that's our invitation too, to listen to the voices that had been silenced, to listen to the cries of the Earth that are wounded and forgotten, to listen to the one who speaks not just on the mountain tops but in the valleys too”
“why did he decide to go through Samaria?...it would be in Samaria that he would encounter not only obstacles but opportunities to spread the Good News”
“Christian asceticism is a way of telling us that just as we have to keep physically fit by appropriate exercise and diet, we also need to keep spiritually fit”
“today's Gospel reminds us that ours is a God who disrupts, interrupts, and breaks into our ordinary lives in extraordinary ways, calling us to deeper love, more committed discipleship, and even sometimes to leave everything we know behind to pick up our nets and follow the call”
“This is the message of Mark’s gospel: Jesus has indeed come to set us free, the wounds of his passion are the price of that costly freedom”
“Christ accepts us, clinging to the wreckage, broken, limited, sinful and struggling, long before we accept him. He comes to set us free, to make us whole.”
“We are desired in love and given opportunities in the messiness of our humanity to love in return”
“we have what we need, praise God, let it be our will that we will be all that God has ordained us to be”
“The rich man retained his wealth and the security it represented...he has the sadness of knowing he is trapped, controlled, prevented from gaining his deepest desire. He remains a captive who balked at the prospect of freedom.”
“So whenever we come across questions, whenever we come across decisions that we need to make, the way out is go back to the scriptures. How did God plan it originally?”
“Christianity is not just a destination. Many times as Christians we forget the fact that a Christian is a follower of Christ and that Christianity is a journey.”
“Jesus says 'I have something better than pity for you, I am able to actualize, to put your faith in action'”
“Love is the thing that keeps us moving forward to be able to see who in our world and in our community needs some assistance, needs some attention, needs to be seen”
“as human beings...we do not have what it takes to judge for we see only very little but God sees the whole picture”
“Apocalyptic writing...aims to give comfort, encouragement and hope to people who are living in a time of great distress. It assures them that God is in control of history and that their fidelity will be rewarded.”
“love is beautiful and yet love is hard. Love can sound trite but yet it’s the most difficult thing to practice when things are unloving or happening to you”
“We don't just preach the Gospel, we embody it”
“he performs the visible healing to prove that he can do the invisible healing, right? He heals the paralysis of the body to show that he has the power to heal the paralysis of the soul.”
“for all the lost sheep of our nation, for all the lost sheep of our region and even all the lost sheep of our world no matter the country you're in, trust and believe that God is out looking for you”
“Many times as human beings when we don't see immediate results we want to give up but remember the seed does not germinate the same day it is planted”
“His interest was not mainly about what his followers would know but his interest was more about who his followers would become”
“Suffering and adversity can crush us but they can also become instruments of self-transcendence”
“We’re told that they took offence at him. How could a carpenter say the things that he is saying and do the things that we’ve heard he’s done? They believe the ordinary excludes the extraordinary.”
“Every day there's always time, there's always a way to spend just a moment resting in the presence of Jesus. It is only then that we will be effective disciples in the work that Christ calls us to do.”
“we put our best foot forward and after that everything else is outside of our control, so we go with God”
“True love is not mechanical. And so Jesus recommends total openness to love that comes from the heart, that is free, that is sincere and that is open to divine grace.”
“He doesn't want to just heal that one aspect of our life. He wants to heal us through and through.”
“when people become successful they detach themselves from God who is the source of their success, they detach themselves from other human beings who are channels through which God reaches them to become successful”
“And both Moses and Elijah have something to teach us about listening. God spoke to each of them on a mountain but the way in which God spoke to each of them was different.”
“It is not about seeking glory but being the least. It is not about lording it over others but serving. It is not seeking security and positions of honour but losing one’s life and being servant of all”
“Jesus knows that sometimes it takes a long time for us to rid ourselves of that sin and so Jesus is recommending that in the meantime, while we're working on it, that we create an external environment that leads us to not go anywhere near the sin”
“So when God inspires you to divine action and holy resistance, heed your dreams”
“Because though the scriptures are not always clear, they are often consistent. And they state that we as Christians ought to be committed to improving the world even if such improvements cost us, even if we have to sacrifice for it.”
“Hospitality is not an interruption of life. It is the shape of life.”
“So here Jesus identifies John as the messenger who would prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Himself...a lot of times Christians assume that he's just talking about the coming of the Messiah but...it says something about the coming of the Lord”
“Jesus’ yoke is not easier or lighter because he demands less, but because he bears more of the load with the burdened”
“Jesus’ yoke is not easier or lighter because he demands less, but because he bears more of the load with the burdened”
“The spiritual life is often about cultivating the soil of our hearts through prayer, worship, community, reflection, and acts of compassion”
“The kingdom of God is already at work, often hidden from sight. It begins with the smallest of beginnings, like the mustard seed. It quietly transforms the world, like yeast working through dough. And there will indeed be judgment but not yet, and not by us.”
“Real joy is found in liberation and solidarity with our neighbors”
“The whole story is asking you and me, will we be like Jesus who gave up his precious little time off? Will we be like the crowd and follow Jesus to hostile and lonely and deserted places with no provision? Or are we more inclined to be like the disciples holding on to the little bit that we have, not ready to give up the little meager gifts that we have?”
“The divine presence of God never flees from the storms of life, but always, always will meet us in the storm”
“This woman speaks forth compassion, fights for it on behalf of her daughter, and her daughter is healed”
“So each one of us, the baptized, Jesus leans over and whispers in your ear and mine this morning, 'Who do you say that I am?' It's a question that throughout our lives will never go away. It's a primary question for those of us who dare to call ourselves Christians.”
“Paradoxically, it is only by letting go of ourselves that we discover our true selves. The way of the cross is not a path away from life, it is the path that leads to life in all its fullness.”
“Matthew gives the reader the Transfiguration so that the Passion is not misread. The suffering and death of Jesus are not a contradiction of who he is but the way in which his identity will truly and finally be disclosed.”
“We place the judgment on people but God's door of mercy is always open, regardless of what we think or what we say”
“Human beings can do divine things with God's grace and mercy working in us. So we're expected to forgive.”
“Joseph teaches us that holiness is found not only in prayer but in responsible, courageous and decisive action”
“The fear of others doing better than us is often a wound in a life where we have learned not to be utterly confident of love”
“Saying the right words has never been enough. What matters is doing the Father's will.”
“The vineyard belongs to the Lord but I can't give it back up again. I'm clinging so tightly to it because I love it so much. This happens to you and me.”
“This is what the Lord longs for each and every one of you. Bring your hearts to this table today, bring your successes but bring your failures too. Bring your B+ paper but bring your C+ paper too and place it all on this altar and watch what the Lord will do for you. Watch the Lord exult you.”
“The Lord would want us to prepare not for presents but for the presence, the presence of Christ”
“The message here is this: Jesus is not encouraging selfishness, the message is there are some things in life that we cannot borrow from others. There are some things in life that we cannot share with others. There are some things in life that we just have to do for ourselves.”
“If we think of God as a hard man judge who does not give mercy freely but instead is a thief then we are too afraid to do anything with this mercy”
“The cross looks like defeat but it is salvation unfolding. Silence feels like absence but it is God acting in the deepest way...God is already working behind the scenes in ways you cannot yet see.”
“let's remember that our response to the risen Christ need not be one-dimensional in order to be pure and deep and real. Doubt is a natural response to the extraordinary. Let your heart feel it and then let it worship.”
“let's remember that our response to the risen Christ need not be one-dimensional in order to be pure and deep and real. Doubt is a natural response to the extraordinary. Let your heart feel it and then let it worship.”
“John teaches us that waiting for the coming of Christ is not merely a joyful expectation. It is also careful preparation. It requires a commitment to making the world more just for everyone.”
“Jesus steps into the water to renew the world, to transform it, and to embody justice. This moment reminds us that faith is never passive. Jesus begins his ministry with an act showing that God's justice is rooted in presence, solidarity, and love.”
“what Jesus is rejecting is the empty promises of a society that puts any one individual before another and in rejecting them, in rejecting the comforts that come with that, Jesus is able to not only live and move towards his purpose, he allows us to have a model of liberation that we can all bring ourselves closer and closer to”
“John is arrested and Jesus begins to preach. The focus is not on how a ruler silenced a prophet, but rather how another prophet, Jesus Christ, stood up and called out that unjust act. 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'”
“Jesus blesses those who are poor in spirit, gentle, and pure in heart because each describes a different facet of a life that is open to God’s reign”
“To be 'light' and 'salt' for the world, people of God, means to live with purpose and with passion”
“The commandments are not fulfilled by external compliance alone, they are fulfilled by a heart shaped by covenant love”
“Notice what we're seeing here. The pattern in each one of these is you respond to injury with generosity. You respond to insult with an unexpected generosity.”
“every time a person gives in to anxiety, it's always a sign of a lack of trust in God”
“For Matthew, the 'kingdom' is not a place we go to, but God’s reign—God taking charge. It is God acting to set things right: to heal, to forgive, to restore, and to establish justice. In Jesus, that reign is already present and at work, but not yet brought to its full completion.”
“Ashes remind us of what? That God created us, that called us into existence, into being. When we put these ashes upon our forehead we are reminded that we are loved and dependent on our God for life.”
“So what you think, you are, you're God's gift to humanity? Yes, you are. If Jesus is God's gift to humanity, you are a part of the life of the living Christ.”
“A friendship with God is not like friendship with anybody else because God is faithful, God shows up, God will be with you in whatever situation, scenario it is”
“The angels came not in search of a king but to proclaim glad tidings of a king who would become a shepherd...and the shepherds, the poor shepherds, become sheep searching for a different kind of shepherd altogether and everything is turned around, turned topsy-turvy”
“What, people of God, is the true meaning of Christmas? God became man...Now why is that significant? That's a deeper question.”
“Let's remember the glorious mother raising her child to help us all be free and then spend our time, our energy, our prayers, our actions working to help all people be free”
“What, people of God, is the true meaning of Christmas? God became man...Now why is that significant? That's a deeper question.”
“if there's one thing I believe wholeheartedly is that the extraordinary is very much in the ordinary. And same way too, God creator of all things, is very much present in all of creation.”
““love one another as I have loved you” is manifested in…the washing of feet. But the full revelation of this love is manifested in what Jesus is about to do. On the following day he will lay down his life for his friends.”
“He is looking for those who are going to stop and lend their hearts, their souls, the whole of their being to the project at hand which is to bring healing to the whole human race”
“Faith is about being deeply in a relationship with God. Because when you and I are deeply in a relationship with God, God's peace, God's mercy, God's love, God's healing and transformation can touch us.”
“The Holy Spirit is creativity and imagination itself”
“When will Christ actually be consecrated to God? When is he going to be offered not as a symbolic sacrifice but as a real sacrifice to God? Well it's not going to be in his presentation in the Temple. It's going to be at the crucifixion”
“Matthew gives the reader the Transfiguration so that the Passion is not misread. The suffering and death of Jesus are not a contradiction of who he is but the way in which his identity will truly and finally be disclosed.”
“And both Moses and Elijah have something to teach us about listening. God spoke to each of them on a mountain but the way in which God spoke to each of them was different.”
“Maybe that's our invitation too, to listen to the voices that had been silenced, to listen to the cries of the Earth that are wounded and forgotten, to listen to the one who speaks not just on the mountain tops but in the valleys too”
“we hear that Mary went to visit Elizabeth, her cousin, as soon as she found out that, that God wanted her to bear Jesus for the world...it was because Elizabeth had proven God to Mary.”
“Jesus blesses those who are poor in spirit, gentle, and pure in heart because each describes a different facet of a life that is open to God’s reign”
“Jesus is filled with zeal for the reign of God, which operates by a whole different logic, the logic of the Eucharistic table. A table where there is room for everyone and where the poor and the shamed and hurting are not only welcomed but are given a place of honor. A table where power is for service.”
“Do not wait until all the conditions are perfect, do not allow what you cannot do to get in the way of what you can do. Begin with what you can do now, come as you are and let God take care of the rest.”
“Do not wait until all the conditions are perfect, do not allow what you cannot do to get in the way of what you can do. Begin with what you can do now, come as you are and let God take care of the rest.”
“The mystery, the joy that we celebrate in the passion, death and resurrection of Christ is just too big for us to put into words. It's just too big. All of our words fall limp. And the more words we add to it the less we get to the way we feel in our hearts”
“the foundational truth of Christianity involves a corpse, right, being transfigured and resurrected and entering into a new state in which that body would never die again”
“In the light of today's parable, I wonder whether we are sometimes just as suspicious of God. We find it easier to believe in a God who rewards people according to what they deserve than in a God whose generosity exceeds all our expectations. We keep looking for the catch, when all the while God is simply being generous.”
“John was assuming that the goodness, the blessing that was going to come down on Jesus was coming from his own goodness. And it wasn't because goodness doesn't come from us, it comes from God.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Giving out Blessings... Have at it!”
“God prefers to give and to receive love through humanity. Every time that we love each other, however we may express it, we are glorifying God. We glorify God within us and we glorify God within the other.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “God is saying, “I love you.””
“Put into practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God gifts to us so that when it comes to Christmas morning you can enjoy and have what was indeed worth striving for the entire time: love, peace and harmony among a group, among a community of persons.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Striving for What is Worth Having”
“‘I admit that I have done wrong. Jesus help me.’ That's all he does. ‘I admit that I have done wrong, Jesus help me.’ And in doing that he's allowing Christ to wear the crown and he’s allowing Christ to be the king of his universe.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Who is Wearing the Crown?”
“Well could you imagine what a rose was going to look like when you were only looking at the seed? What we have today and what we know of what that will look like is like we're looking at the seed. We cannot imagine what comes beyond it.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Avoiding the Question Trap”
“Jesus is not sharing his stature, he's giving it away. He is losing stature by associating himself with Zacchaeus. He gives away his own stature and it gives Zacchaeus a chance to show himself to be someone people didn't think he was capable of being.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Giving Away Stature”
“There's a difference between receiving a gift and recognizing it and being able to give glory to God and to give thanks for that gift received”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Receiving and Recognizing Gifts are two Different Things”
“if we allow ourselves to be embraced by that love, maybe if we have the gift of the courage of the younger brother we'll find that we are in an incredible position to help other people”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Some Sons in Trouble”
“The cost of discipleship is the price of admission and it may seem high at times, it may seem high but it's nothing compared to the fruit that is reaped on the other side.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “The Steep Cost of Not-Discipleship”
“the master who has locked the door. It can only be opened from the inside, which is to say God's help will be necessary. It's not something that we need to do on our own nor can do on our own.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Feet on Earth, Heart in Heaven”
“before Jesus there was the Law and the prophets; Moses and Elijah. Things were pretty clear-cut and simple. It was written in stone or they had said it...But after Jesus our goodness and life becomes about a relationship with God directly and that means that things that seem to be written in stone may no longer be that way.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “The Gift of Doubt”
“When we think about faith like belief...it becomes a question of our willfulness. But I think that a much better word for faith is trust. And trust is something that can only develop over time. It's not even something that's in our control.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Growing in Faith is like Watching a Sunrise”
“He want us to start by asking for what we know and feel drawn towards. Christ is encouraging us: never lose hope in prayer. Be persistent, ask for what you need.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Persistence and Insistence in Prayer”
“it sounds like Jesus speaks kind of strongly to Martha...but he's not doing it to condemn her. He's doing it to defend the value of rest. He wants us to know that he values the time we take to rest, especially when it's a silent and a quiet rest in his presence.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Pause and Breathe”
“So when Jesus sends us out as lambs among wolves we have nothing to fear. We bear peace within us that others may receive or may reject. Either way, that peace remains within us.”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Lambs and Wolves - What Drives Your Actions?”
“all that I believe that God asks of us at any given moment is a surrender to his mercy so that we can become vessels and people who go out in his name and share his love with others”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “Surrender to Mercy”
Fr. Juan P. Ruiz · “No-Win Scenarios”
“step into the wilderness this Lent, let go of a comfort even a small one and see what unfolds. The desert won't offer false comforts but it may lead you to greater strength and trust in God's spirit, a spirit that carries us through all our wildernesses.”
Andrea Dean · “First Sunday of Lent”
“What would it look like to live as though we share our dignity with those on the outside of our church and our world?”
Mikali Anagnostis · “Love your enemies be compassionate”
“For God's people, then and now, being called blessed isn't about making someone else jealous or establishing that you're more well off than another”
Bei-En Zou · “Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Jesus calls us in the depth of our messy stories and draws out the fullness of who we are”
Steph Jorna
“God has arrived, holy and humble at the cost of God's blood, not ours, to invite all to walk the path to a better world”
Laura Tharion · “Holding Hope”
“We're called to enter into the 'today' of Jesus himself. And that means allowing ourselves to be transformed by God, to receive God's healing power in our lives, God's forgiveness, God's care for us in our everyday concerns.”
Dorothy Lee · “Third Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“I am reminded that God is here already in our homes and in our streets. Whatever might happen, we don't face it alone.”
Christine Redwood · “A Joyous Sign”
“Today I invite you to consider, how do you live out your baptism call? Is baptism merely a milestone or historic event? Or an active response to making tangible the reign of God in our world today?”
Geraldine Vytilingam · “Baptism of the Lord”
“but if our preaching and teaching isn't drawing you closer to Jesus and closer to your neighbors, we preachers are not doing our jobs”
Radhika Sukumar-White · “The Epiphany of the Lord”
“May the narrative of the visitation, Mary and Elizabeth, remind us that even in expected circumstances and amidst emotional complexity we can find strength and comfort knowing that we are people through whom divinity flows”
Rena MacLeod · “Leaping with Joy: Celebrating Divine Energies Embodied”
“The Gospel demands nothing less than love in action”
Robyn Whitaker · “Third Sunday of Advent”
“So let's keep awake and alert, both to the message we carry and the message we may receive from others, God's unlikely heroes”
Keren Terpstra · “Second Sunday of Advent”
“Often we will say that Advent is a season of waiting but perhaps the little apocalypse tells us it is really a season for enduring”
Gillian Moses · “First Sunday of Advent”
“Jesus reminds us throughout his life that the kingdom of God is not an aspirational goal to be longed for without hope but a present reality into which we must learn to live”
Sarah Plowman · “Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe”
“The danger is that we can become like the scribes and Pharisees, proud of our religious practices and commitment to the Church but blind to what is outside our door”
Bernadette Mercieca · “How can we be more generous with what we have?”
“I think true love is having absolute trust with another. It is a safe place to be your authentic self, reaching the deepest intimate connection with someone with honesty and vulnerability.”
Di Langham and Belinda Langham · “Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Jesus heard the cry of the poor, the cry of the outcast of society and turned the table on those who tried to stop him getting to Jesus by asking them to call the blind man to him”
Helen Cunningham · “30th Sunday Ordinary Time”
“You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love and you can be that servant.”
Ann Rennie · “Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“The number of possessions we own is irrelevant, it's rather the significance we place upon them that Jesus is asking us to relinquish”
Angela Marquis · “Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Sometimes it seems as if the teaching of church institutions around marriage is less to do with God and far more to do with upholding patriarchal and often deeply political structures of power and authority”
Penny Jones and Josephine Inkpin · “Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“This profound truth compels us to honor the unique gifts and contributions of all women, including Aboriginal sisters whose rich cultural heritage and wisdom have greatly enriched our society”
Mayrah Yarraga Dreise · “Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“For us to love others without self-interest is not easy but love is oddly reciprocal. The more we give, the more we have to give.”
Patricia Smith · “Exploring His Gentleness”
“He's the true image of God, not the image we crafted to reflect ourselves or our society. And sometimes that can be uncomfortably challenging.”
Melissa Conway · “Sacred Spaces – Where Human and Divine Meet”
“In my view healing is not about building ability or regaining physical health or attaining success or material wealth. Healing is about returning to love and choosing to love.”
Moira Byrne
“Sometimes we complain about what we do not have but in reality we don't use what we do have”
Anne Pattel-Gray · “Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Are we living as true disciples committed to Jesus, grounded in his words and recognizing his sovereignty in our lives?”
Heeyoung Lim · “Lifelong Journey of Discipleship with Christ”
“The question isn't so much who is willing to eat and drink at this wise table...but who is willing to be that body, to remain in that body and be real food and real drink for the life of the world?”
Carmel Posa · “Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“So today as we are drawn to God in our lives let us be eager recipients of the bread we are offered and be signs of life for others”
Anne Surtees · “Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“So today as Christians ponder the Bread of Life discourse, may they be aware of just how deep of the depths of the story which shape their Christian lives. May Christians treasure this sacred memory of the manna in the wilderness”
Teresa Pirola · “Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“sometimes we must be like Jesus and ask questions of ourselves and our own communities. We must take into our heart the problems in front of us and ask of ourselves what solutions we might bring forth.”
Lana Hanley · “Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Rest isn’t for its own sake though, as some kind of reward for the hard work...Rather it's designed to nourish us to continue the mission, to continue proclaiming the Gospel, serving others and working for justice and peace”
Clare Schwantes · “Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“The true prophet calls out injustice and social hypocrisy, exploitation and oppression wherever it exists”
Jenny O’Brien · “Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“It seems that for whatever reason they could not get past the fact that divine God-sourced wisdom, power and authority can coincide with ordinariness, with this rather ordinary man”
Jennifer Wakeling · “God of the ordinary”
“Is the Church listening to the stories of the women and the children and the grieving parents? And how can we listen better?”
Naomi Cooke · “Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Our shortcoming is that just like the disciples we do not trust God, we have doubt that God cares”
Dominique Galea · “Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“There will be a harvest of our faithful efforts. The birds of the air, even we ourselves, will shelter in the generous shade we enable to grow.”
Michele Connolly · “Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“And so with confidence we approach the table. We come not as individuals but as one united body in communion”
Carmel Pilcher · “Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ”
“The concept of the three persons in one being of the Trinity has consequences not just about who God is but also who we are called to be”
Cristina Lledo-Gomez · “Holy Trinity”
“So this is the Spirit who helps us to know and understand Jesus even more deeply than those who knew him in the flesh”
Mel Williams · “Feast of Pentecost”
“The theology and spirituality of the Ascension is essentially summarized in these words: refuse to cling to what once was, let it go so that you can now recognize the new life you are already living and receive its spirit”
Sharon O’Keeffe · “Ascension of the Lord”
“If Jesus is the true vine and we’re the branches, we’re not just joined but we’re made of the same stuff”
Roberta Hamilton · “The vine grower and the vine”
“perhaps we can consider a new metaphor in these lands, one that emulates the love, the care and the vulnerability, the message at the heart of the Good Shepherd story”
Naomi Wolfe · “Fourth Sunday of Easter”
“To me this text speaks of impact of encounter with the risen Christ”
Maureen Gaul · “The Resurrection for Transformation”
“here we are the week after Easter and so many years after that greeting of peace, longing for shalom”
Tanya Wittwer · “Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday”
“There is good news in the radical solidarity of God with us, in the most difficult and heart-breaking spaces in our lives and in our world. But Mark also gives us hints that this is not all.”
Kylie Crabbe · “And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid”
“Apparently the hearers of this Gospel are supposed to know who Alexander and Rufus are…What would it have been for them to hear Jesus in Mark’s Gospel say that his followers must “take up their cross and follow him” when their father had carried Jesus’ actual cross?”
Catherine Playoust · “Palm Sunday”
“It is clear that the author of John believes that Jesus is alive and Jesus can change your life, turn it upside down in fact.”
Alison Ryan · “Fifth Sunday of Lent”
“belief implies ethics and ethics is essentially the practice of faith. Belief is the fundamental first step in the art of creating right relationships with God and the world around us.”
Debra Snoddy · “Fourth Sunday of Lent”
“The Church is now the body of Christ in the world today...God works through the Church but the Church does not control access to God”
Anne Frawley-Mangan · “3rd Sunday of Lent”
“The Church is now the body of Christ in the world today...God works through the Church but the Church does not control access to God”
Anne Frawley-Mangan · “3rd Sunday of Lent”
“Where do you go to replenish, to open yourself to transformation that you will carry with you when you come down from the mountain?”
Sarah Agnew · “Second Sunday of Lent”
“I think that we sometimes try to capture God, box God in, putting tight boundaries around our understanding”
Elizabeth Dowling · “Proclaiming the Kin-dom of God”
“this is a story that can reveal to us the limits of our own compassion and challenge us to love more deeply and to help more sacrificially and generously. Here is also a call to think through the complex effects of suffering in whatever form it takes”
Megan Powell du Toit · “Indignant Hearts”
“Jesus is making a powerful statement here about who we listen to and it reminds me of the Good Samaritan story, a story of an outsider showing us that it's not always those in the in-group or the expected who show us how to love and how to live the gospel message”
Vicky Gonzalez Burrows · “Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Sometimes we need to recognize that so often we have multiple voices going on within us and as we progress in prayer we hope to see these multiplicities fly out to make room for us to become more ourselves, more simple, more filled with the pure voice of Jesus”
Dawn LaValle Norman · “Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Have you ever considered the privilege, the enormity of the gift of being called by God, the creator of the universe, the King of Kings, the Lord of the Lords? Have you ever sat with that reality alone? Wow. That could be enough.”
Angela Gorman · “Third Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“While working in pastoral ministry for many years I was privileged to be invited into many homes that covered a huge range of styles and sizes, of varied decor and treasured photos and items. Some seemed cold and sterile, others exuded warmth and welcome. It gradually dawned on me that in each of them Jesus lived.”
Anne Dowling · “Second Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Every time God's goodness revealing Christ Jesus touches yet another heart and mind, there is a new epiphany”
Trish Hindmarsh · “The Epiphany of the Lord”
“And it is the body with its appetites, its pleasures and all its various functions that God has chosen to make his love known among us. God's very self did not despise the human body but chose to inhabit it and to share in all its fullness, in all the messiness of human existence.”
Marian Free · “Holy Family”
“Mary's story is often seen as a testament to the power of faith, strength and the capacity for individuals to play a crucial role in unfolding a greater plan”
Myree Sam · “Fourth Sunday of Advent”
Anne McLean and Alice Sullivan RSJ · “Third Sunday of Advent”
· “The Second Sunday of Advent”
“Each day is a gift, an opportunity to recognise and appreciate the grace of God's love and to embrace the faith that has been entrusted to us”
Tessie James · “33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time”
Selina Hasham · “32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time”
Ann Edwards · “31st Sunday in Ordinary Time”
Carey Anne Moylan · “27th Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“One of the beautiful things about God is his enduring grace, forgiveness and love for us. God doesn't give up on us even when our backs are turned and we keep saying 'no.' God patiently waits for the 'yes', our 'yes' in whatever form that 'yes' takes.”
Jo Curran · “Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Who are the latecomers in our lives that we have trouble accepting?”
Eleanor Flynn · “Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“forgiveness from those who we had forsaken when partnered with our own behavioural change builds trust between ourselves and those we have wronged”
Alice Carwardine · “24th Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Now is the time for us to call on all members of the community to help restore right relationships on planet earth”
Janet Galos · “23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“A focus on technological solutions...often seems like a good idea to maintain our current standard of lifestyle but like Peter's efforts in the Gospel, might it also give us a temporary sense of control over global challenges that need a deeper more transformative and local solution?”
Sally Neaves · “22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Has our faith in Jesus grown stronger through our experience or the experience of others around us? Where has Christ been in our own life journeys?”
Toni Janke · “An Unshakeable Faith in Christ – Son of the Living God”
“I have a lot of people say to me, you know, 'how can you be aboriginal and Catholic?' Well, we see Jesus' story and we affiliate it with somebody that's been persecuted for doing nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong in this country. You know, we had God with us since the beginning of time.”
Sherry Balcombe · “19th Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Our minds alone cannot see God revealed. We have to engage our imagination, all our senses and emotions so that the presence of God is encountered”
Angela McCarthy · “The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord”
“Jesus invites us to ponder and learn from this parable to find in our hearts the treasure that may be hidden or the pearl of great prize that will enable us to divest ourselves of attitudes, fears and distractions that prevent us from experiencing God's unconditional love”
Catherine Mead · “Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“What is the risk of including people and getting it wrong? Mistaking weed for wheat? Actually, is there much of a risk because God has it all in hand, we do trust that right?”
Greer Hudson · “Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Let us not shy away from the demands of our environmental responsibilities but instead nurture our hearts through education, awareness and meaningful action”
Alice Dunlop · “Seeds of Transformation- Cultivating Hearts for Our Common Home”
“Jesus calls us to him, invites us to tie ourselves to him like the disciples without fear because he is gentle and humble of heart and learn from him. This will be easy and in doing this we'll find rest for our souls, the rest that comes from knowing that he is with us always until the end of time.”
Wendy Goonan · “Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“It's because he loves me so much that he becomes one with me. It's almost as though Christ enters me because he can't resist on account of his great love for me. And the same applies to you and everyone else. Christ's love is so great that he, as it were, can't hold back from union with each one.”
Frances Maguire · “One with Christ”
“I don't hear Matthew saying in this text that we should not fear, I don't hear him saying that we will always be protected. Rather I hear him saying 'speak the truth even if your voice shakes' because the only way justice has a chance to survive is if it moves from being whispered in the dark into being spoken in the light”
Michelle Eastwood · “Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Compassion is relational, it's engaged, it's not a pity that allows a distance to be kept but a mucking in together to share experience, to learn with and from and not just about others. Compassion draws us towards solidarity.”
Bec Lindsay · “Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“At the heart of John's reinterpretation of the manna story is an understanding of the importance of wilderness experiences in Jesus' life and the events in the life of the evangelist's community”
Alexandra Banks · “Corpus Christi”
“The world is loved by God. We are not saved in order to be saved from the world. Salvation is relational. We are saved for relationship with God, for eternal life with God.”
Teresa Brown · “The Most Holy Trinity”
“Do we believe in the power of the Spirit in today's world working in and through us? You? Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit has been sent. Our Advocate is with us and we are guarded by the Spirit of truth and we dwell in the spirit of love.”
Elissa Roper
“There is no one present who is another me or another you and yet here we all are, perfectly diverse and deeply loved as God's own”
Danni Clark · “The Ascension of the Lord”
“God breathes the Spirit into you and you breathe out the gifts of the Spirit. God breathes the Spirit into you and you are recreated. You breathe the Spirit out to recreate life in your relationships and with Earth. Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit into you and you breathe out, sent by Jesus, peace, forgiveness and love.”
Sue Martin · “Sixth Sunday of Easter”
“Jesus is our promised land. In him we find our true home, our dwelling now and in the eternal life to come. And the home Jesus invites us to move into is a home that is characterized by his perfect peace.”
Tania Watson · “Fifth Sunday of Easter”
“Did not Jesus bring abundant life to the man born blind right then and there...Did Jesus say 'hang tight, power through and you'll get the good stuff later'? Or did he heal and love and forgive and rejoice right then and there? Abundant life is not an end-of-life promise. It's right now.”
Radhika Sukumar-White · “Abundant Life Now”
“The passage is a reminder that although we may presume that we have been left on the wayside by God, abandoned by God, it is not so. For the spirit of God travels with us even if we do not recognise it as spirit”
Debra Phillips · “Third Sunday of Easter”
“'Peace with you' is not just about fear any more than it's just about the absence of war, it's a greeting of hope for wholeness, completeness, soundness, health, safety.”
Gail Gill and Tanya Wittwer · “Second Sunday of Easter”
“Jesus has proved God's limitless love all the way to the end, which we discover is no longer death but eternal life”
Elizabeth Young RSM · “Easter Sunday”
“The Easter story teaches us that we do not need to fear death. Death is not the most powerful force in our universe. Life is.”
Rachel Kronberger · “Fifth Sunday of Lent”
“We can be blind to the 'why' because we have tunnel vision to the 'what.' It is quicker and easier to judge another person's actions than to take the time to consider what is motivating them to behave in that way. Blindness comes in many forms.”
Danielle Anne Lynch · “Fourth Sunday of Lent”
“In the Old Testament the bridegroom is an image for God and the wedding symbolizes God's committed loving relationship to Israel. In John, Jesus will be the revealer of God and God's desire to be in relationship with all of us.”
Mary Coloe PBVM · “Third Sunday of Lent”
“Are not my daily transformations the degrees by which I turn my face towards Jesus? The degrees by which I'm being changed into his likeness? The way in which I increase my depth and capacity to receive love itself? The degrees of holiness made possible by my attentiveness to the little things and faithfulness to my vocation over time?”
Trish McCarthy · “The Transfiguration: for a purpose and a promise”
“Jesus gave up so much power. Not just in this story but just in becoming human. He embraced being human and all that that entailed. And so what might we be called to give up not just for Lent but to take a better path?”
Teash Taylor · “First Sunday of Lent”
“embrace the truth that no one life is worth more than another in God's sight and this includes our enemies”
Sally Longley · “Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Once we have the gift of faith we are duty-bound to pass it on and make it relevant in our lives and to the world”
Marilyn Hatton · “Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“To be the 'salt of the earth' we must be present and active in the world. To be 'light of the world' we need to share ourselves with the world. We cannot claim to be followers of Jesus and yet remain bystanders, looking on, understanding what is going wrong but doing nothing about it.”
Liz Little · “Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Jesus spent his lifetime seeking out those who needed him the most and he offered them healing, company, inclusion, love and eternal reward in heaven”
Tania Waring · “Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Once we discover and encounter these new ways of being and doing we see a completely different future. A light dawns and our worlds are changed. So why would we go back?”
Steff Fenton · “Third Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Into this dreary situation John the Baptist asks us to notice that the Lamb of God is among us, that the Spirit of God dwells within you and that the Creator has worked to reconcile all the world”
Dianne Rayson · “Second Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Being attentive to God's presence...has more to do with a way of being in the world that involves openness to the unexpected and a critical and careful, personal and communal dialogue between our life experience and our faith tradition”
Veronica Lawson · “Epiphany of the Lord Solemnity”
“Mary is precious to us all. Her attributes of wisdom, discretion, knowledge and love make her a truly precious matriarch to us all.”
Di Langham · “Mary, Mother of God Solemnity”
“strength became weak that weakness might become strong seeking peace in unfailing hope and truth-telling love”
Kay Goldsworthy · “Christmas Day - The Nativity of the Lord”
“Because the one I seek is right here in our midst. What joy.”
Margaret Scharf · “Third Sunday of Advent”
“So I ask myself: what does a change of heart mean to me? Where is the change of heart present in my life? Where is the change of heart absent?”
Frances Tilly · “Second Sunday of Advent”
“We do not know when the Son of Man will come. As Christians we do know we at least should not, must not, and cannot remain oblivious to the call to be Advent people.”
Cecilia Francisco-Tan · “First Sunday of Advent”
“For when we allow a kingly God to be in control of life and of our heart, when we trust that this king is also our dearest friend, wanting only the best for us, things start falling into place”
Nimmi Candappa · “Friend in High Places”
“So Jesus offers us more than mere existence. He offers us life that is full, rich, abundant, and here and now.”
Judith Norris · “Now is the Time”
“The woman in this story is not to be remembered for the 7 husbands she had but as embraced by God who remembers her for the 7 times she became a victim of her social context and the 7 times she suffered grief and degradation and unfulfilled hopes”
Julie Trinidad · “I have come to set you free”
“Jesus' gaze goes beyond sins and prejudices. He sees the person through the eyes of God who does not stop at past faults but sees the future good.”
Trish Madigan · “Thirty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“The tax collector knows what he is but he also knows what God is, who God is. The tax collector's prayer is to the God who gives justice to his chosen ones.”
Natalie Ray · “A Tale of Two Men”
“We need that spiritual strength to do as Jesus says, to pray always and not lose heart...maintaining our trust in God who loves us and will always attend to our needs”
Jenny Close · “Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Faith is a key element of being part of salvation. Salvation means being aware of our God who has set us free. And a response to salvation is giving thanks to God and giving praise.”
Angela McCarthy · “Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Ours is to keep the vision before us, accept and embrace the mission we have been given to care for and to look after with all the strength and the inspiration that God gives us each day trusting in God, being one with all of creation and listening to the wisdom of creation that we are so grateful to serve.”
Jacqui Rémond · “Twenty-seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“We need to listen to the prophets that call us to live on this planet without overconsumption that leaves people at the fringes hungry...Rather, we are to live this life with justice, integrity and sustainability listening to Moses, the prophets and the words of Jesus.”
Ruth Mathieson · “Twenty-six Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“this is how God behaves towards us. Setting aside all that hinders us coming to God to enter into our complex world, flesh of our flesh in Jesus, to show us that we are all invited to become friends of God, or at least some indebtedness to God and freed to love as extravagantly, as inclusively as God loves.”
Colleen O’Reilly AM · “Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“God's nature is nurture”
Julia Perry · “Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“voluntary poverty is about much more than living a simple material existence. It is about giving up self-centeredness for a greater good, what some might call the Kingdom of Heaven or the Body of Christ. One day we may even realize that the common good is actually our own individual greatest good.”
Patricia Gemmell · “Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Jesus' words call us to humility and care. His action in voicing those words calls us to speak up. This gospel urges us to ongoing conversion in our hearts, in our church, in our society.”
Christine Burke · “Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“being the women and men God wants us to be is not easy. It is strenuous because we have to change. We have to change our hearts...To be holy there has to be a continual surrender of our wills to God's will. Our plans to God's plan.”
Andrea Dean · “Twentyfirst Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“Perhaps one day our churches, our communities, and our world will be able to move beyond the divisions and see the value inherent in every single person”
Michelle Eastwood · “Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“By confronting and bringing back the word 'slave' into these parables and identifying with the slaves, I started to see Jesus doing what he so often does, taking something familiar and known in his world, like slavery, and subverting it.”
Rev. Dr. Christine Redwood · “Slaves?”
“the ultimate message of today’s gospel is to make space in your life to discern how do we invest in what really matters: love and connection”
Kate O’Brien · “Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“as a friend suggested, maybe the insight is that what God offers in answer to prayer is beyond my imagination”
Moira Byrne Garton · “Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“We are called to consider, 'am I a Martha or a Mary?' when it comes to my relationship with Jesus”
Gemma Thomson and Senior students from Iona College · “Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“How have I moved outside my comfort zone and paid attention to the need around me? And what did I do to stay there?”
Lisa Bright · “The Good Samaritan: Looking with fresh eyes”
“How would it be if we were to reimagine this Gospel passage as Jesus inviting 72 aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to go out in pairs and take their spiritual insights and proclaim the Kingdom of God to all of us who come across the seas and settled on this land? What might it look like? Sound like? Feel like?”
Elizabeth Lee · “Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time”
“We, like Jesus, are on our way to our destiny which is paradoxically our center and every choice we make, every action we take, grows us into that way or keeps us by the way. Sometimes we may have to make definitive decisions that set our direction on the heart of God.”
Jill Gowdie · “Together on the Way”
“I find myself asking, 'what are my loaves and fish? My small offering in my family, relationships, neighborhood, workplace?' And then I ask God to help me discern the Spirit's presence and leading in my blessedness and brokenness daily and dutifully in prayer.”
Anne Muirhead · “The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ”
“The masculine Trinity has imprisoned our imagination for too long. Our tangible, static nouns and pronouns must be released. Our vision set free.”
Angela Marquis · “Trinity Sunday”
“the final words of Jesus on the cross 'it is finished' potentially connect with the first words of the risen Christ to the assembled disciples: 'Peace.' Two terms of phrase that completes Christ's death and resurrection.”
Rachel McLean · “Pentecost”
“All of us experience our own ascensions and that of others. It's all part of letting God do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Giving us new life and new spirit in all our relationships. Christ Jesus shows us that our lives can only be fully received after we ascend.”
Patricia Thomas · “Ascension of the Lord”
“When we make room in our hearts and minds and souls for the Word then we will find ourselves being dwelt in. We will find that the Spirit has set up home in us and we will find that God is indeed closer to us than our own breath.”
Rev. Susan Lodge-Calvert · “Sixth Sunday of Easter”
“Am I living a life that reflects Christ's radical love for me? And am I radically loving others, living my life in a way that reflects the light and life of God so that others may see that I am a disciple?”
Erin Gillard · “Our call to radical love”
“Having and hearing a voice is a foundation for the two-way street of hospitality and relationship”
Gabrielle Sinclair · “Fourth Sunday of Easter”
“We show our love for God through feeding, providing, allowing ourselves to be instruments. We follow Jesus by being a conduit of his abundant love”
Beth Doherty · “Third Sunday of Easter”
“And when Jesus said three times “peace be with you” these words were the reality of the life lived in Christ. That the pain of loss and death is real but the comfort, hope and love for life beyond death can only be our reality in serving, living and believing in the life, death and resurrected Jesus”
Juliette Maua’i · “Will you come to believe in Jesus in the face of death?”
“Where do you look to find Jesus? Like these disciples are you looking in a tomb? Is Jesus a figure of past history? A person you hear about in a church? In a building? Or is Jesus a living person you can glimpse in your current life?”
Dr. Mary Coloe PBVM · “Easter Sunday”
“When in humility we acknowledge our sinfulness and our limitations we encounter Jesus and his healing mercy. It is an entering into the mystery of God's transforming love”
Clara Geoghegan · “Fifth Sunday of Lent”
“as individuals and as a church we need to get in touch within ourselves of a God who is more merciful, more healing and more loving than we can ever understand”
Melissa Dwyer FdCC · “Coming Home”
“To repent is to see the big picture”
Veronica Lawson, RSM · “Third Sunday of Lent”
“This Lent, may you see like never before, take the journey which isn't about giving something up but about change, and practice deep listening”
Brooke Prentis · “Second Sunday of Lent”
“May we always think and behave as Jesus has shown us today. That when we get tempted, we put ourselves second and continue to put God first, the God to whom we give all glory, praise and honor”
Eseta Meneilly · “First Sunday of Lent”
“So what might these parables ask of me and of us today? Perhaps just to live more honestly and face the truth of our lives more courageously...to be people open to constant conversion”
Kate Englebrecht · “Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“For if we treated everyone who comes across our path with the same respect, dignity and love that we wish for those closest and most special to us, imagine how that might transform our society”
Pip McIlroy · “Love your enemies”
“It is through transcending the trappings of this material world that we live in that we are truly blessed in finding our ultimate reward in Christ Jesus and the Kingdom of God”
Toni Janke · “Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“How different might our spiritual journey be if we got used to the idea of discerning before responding?”
Annemarie Reiner · “Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
Sr. Magdalen Mather OSB · “Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“We are all captives in some way to some thing. What is it that captivates you?”
Katy Gilles · “Third Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Jesus identified himself as being unified with all those John had baptized and with all of humanity. Jesus is one with those he had come to save. Similarly, our baptism identifies us as being one with God and one with God's people. Our identity is from God and of God.”
Monica Dutton · “Part of who we are”
“Epiphanies and wisdom are found in the child and the adult. The child in Bethlehem and the adult on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem.”
Coralie Naida Ling · “Epiphanies of Wisdom”
“As First Peoples we honor the Creator and know the Creator was moving amongst us, with us, besides us, through us, well before the invasion of his land they now call Australia”
Alison Overeem · “Weaving the laritja/threads that sit in the ever present basket”
“In the silence of our hearts God speaks. How often do we sit still and spend time with him just listening?”
Racy Espino · “Why is she in a hurry?”
“With Christ's spirit to fire us, we are called to face up to and to challenge as best we can the cruelty and injustice we see at home and abroad, while all the time acknowledging our own human vulnerability”
Trish Hindmarsh · “Third Sunday in Advent”
“John brings a message of repentance, a message that things must change, we must change if we are to see the salvation of God”
Emily Hayes · “Second Sunday in Advent”
“This idea of Jesus coming back in a scary or judgmental way doesn't work when this text is read in light of Daniel. Instead we see this hopeful image of people coming before God amidst everything, of God being there and present to people in the midst of everything.”
Teash Taylor · “Preparing for the Apocalypse”
“We all need to be on the side of truth. Truth and truth-telling will set us free.”
Di Langham · “Feast of Christ the King”
“The truth of the matter was that what we called 'good violence' was really just 'our' violence and what we called 'bad violence' was really just 'their' violence”
Rev. Radhika Sukumar-White · “Jesus, violence and chaos”
“This widow is perfect discipleship material because...she gives her whole life to God. Tragically, she gives it to the wrong thing, a religious system that Jesus has just demonstrated exploits people just like her”
Michele Connolly, RSJ · “Mark’s Poor Widow: A Cautionary Tale - And an Exhortation”
“Life expands as God gives us space for growth”
Janine Luttick · “Who is the God you love?”
“Are we willing to see with new eyes the abundance of what God offers us”
Jo Hart · “Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“I need to be a servant like Jesus was a servant and how he served and I need to do that in my community”
Erica Bernard · “Know Your Place”
“what the Gospel of Mark makes abundantly clear is, when we accept Jesus' sacrifice for ourselves, there will be something asked of us in return...The life of a disciple of Jesus is a life of sacrifice.”
Louise Gosbell · “Who Then Can Be Saved?”
“I find this amazing, that an ancient writer living in a patriarchal world has the insight to realize that patriarchy is sinful, patriarchy is not of God”
Mary Coloe PBVM · “Original Love”
“Jesus' leadership illustrates the power that brings light. The disciples' misuse of leadership power casts a shadow of exclusion.”
Gail Gill · “Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“Who are the others we are called to love in deeds and words as much as Jesus is seen to love here?”
Maeve Louise Heaney VDMF · “Something Worth Dying For”
“Not only does Jesus's identity include his eventual death and resurrection, it will finally be defined by those things”
Rosa Speranza · “The person of Jesus”
“In order to respond to the Gospel we have to be able to hear it. Are we people of hope, open to receiving God's love in the goodness available to us right now?”
Fiona Dyball · “Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“What is important in the reign of God is not people observing laws but people who are like God and try to be as God is, who have a compassionate heart as God does”
Mary Margaret Dalmau · “Tradition, transition and divine life”
“Jesus is asking too much in asking them to say 'yes'”
Cathie Lambert · “Enough bread talk! I'm outta here”
“May we use our outside voices in our work for justice for the uplifting of the lowly and excluded of our time. Or better still, may we be the ones who bless and encourage and who make way for them to make a proclamation of their own.”
Natalie Acton · “Women of the word: Blessing and proclamation”
“Instead of condemnation God shows forgiveness. Instead of coming in force God came in weakness. And instead of a miracle God gives us God's own self”
Charissa Suli · “The unexpected, audacious, a little shocking, and ultimately life-giving promise”
“God always exceeds anything we say about God and constantly escapes our attempts to define, contain and grasp God. So too the reign of God.”
Teresa Brown · “Scarcity and Abundance”
“To rest in oneself often requires compassion for oneself”
Linda Chapman · “Extending the mince”
“Who am I not hearing because I think I know what the other is saying? To whom and to what am I closed?”
Catherine McCahill · “Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“How would our Church be changed if our leaders stopped and listened to the truth of women stories? How much would the voice of women in the assembly enrich our understanding of God’s saving power?”
Patricia Gemmell · “Jesus invites a woman to preach”
“Maybe our faith is to know that God is with us through the storms and that no matter what the external conditions are all will be well”
Elizabeth Lee · “Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time”
“The center of the story is God and God’s purposes. Our place is relative to God rather than God existing to satisfy our needs.”
Amelia Koh-Butler · “Lessons from the Land”
“I believe that we need to accept that our theological reflections are shaped by our experiences”
Debra Zanella · “Corpus Christi”
“For if the shape of community in the Church is always to be a work in progress, so too is mission. Both must be continuously focused on Christ in the diverse experiences of our world.”
Josephine Inkpi · “Trinity”
“If we’re created in the image of God then we’re created to be in relationship too, with God and with each other”
Di Rayson · “The Spirit of Pentecost”
“Our faith is not just about getting to heaven but following Christ to embrace and transform this earth right here and now”
Elizabeth Young RSM · “Ascension”
“Our actions, our choice to act in a loving way shows us and others who we are. Moreover, our loving actions are witness to our faith in the God of love.”
Danielle Lynch · “What is love Anyway?”
“Remaining in Jesus’ love, remaining attached to the vine is what allows life to flow through us”
Trish Madigan, OP · “Fifth Sunday of Easter”
“Saint Luke is brilliant in his use of human senses and the role of women in this story which bring the whole resurrection to life”
Tau’alofa Anga’aelangi · “Third Sunday of Easter”
“In this reading we realize how important it is that each one of us comes to the light in our own way and time”
Melinda Jolly · “Transformative Faith Experiences”
“Faith isn’t a set of propositions to be rattled off and defended. Faith, belief is a relationship.”
Patty Fawkner · “The Empty Tombs of our Lives”
“What Holy Week are we being called into? What Holy Week are you being called into?”
Cristina Lledo Gomez · “What Holy Week are you called into?”
“A God of love does not want the Gospel used to ruin lives”
Andrea Dean · “Serving and Dying”
“Jesus makes clear that believing in our Creator and the divine presence of God in creation is key to understanding that which stretches beyond Earth, into the cosmos and in the realms of Heaven”
Jacqui Rémond · “God's Salvific Call to Love Creation”
Mark 8:29 "Correct Answer but Incorrect" Questioning our understanding of Jesus as Christ/Messiah
Luke 4:15 "Praise God at Church" Could we be failing at praising God because we are not appreciating Jesus’ presence?
Mark 6:52 "Trusting That God Provides" When faced with problems in lives how often do we turn to Jesus for our solutions?
1 John 4:8 "Knowing God by Loving" How aware are we that to know God is to express love to others?
Matthew 4:24 "Seek Jesus for a Cure" Do we believe in the healing power of Jesus to journey towards God?
Luke 14:6 "God Asks. How Do We Answer?" Do we spend our energy challenging God that we are unable to see God’s grace?
Luke 6:12 "Follow Jesus in Prayer" If we are Christians, are we spending time in prayer as Jesus did?
Psalm 13:4 "Light. Sight. God. " Are we approaching each day by choosing God over earthly things?
Romans 8:18 "Focused on God, Not Suffering" If our priority is on ourselves instead of God why do we think we can endure suffering?
Romans 8:15 "God. Abba. Family" If we can begin to see God as Father, can we see everyone else as family?
Romans 8:11 "Entering Into Life with God" Are we letting the Holy Spirit inside of us to give us life and overcome death?
Romans 7:21 "Tempted by Evil" Do we realize that even though sin holds us down, Jesus is the answer to lift us up?
Romans 6:23 "Choosing Spiritual Life" How much are we thinking about our spiritual life when we sin?
Romans 6:15 "Jesus Above Sin" Do we realize that only by keeping Jesus close do we overcome sin?
Luke 12:37 "Servants of Christ" Are we truly ready to welcome Jesus when he appears to us in our daily lives?
2 Timothy 4:17 "God Stands with Us" Can we find strength in God when others harm and abandon us doing God’s work?
Luke 12:8 "Confessing Jesus to be Divine" Do we understand that by acknowledging Jesus with our lives we enter into the heavenly space?
Luke 12:1 "Continue Following Jesus" If church leadership fail to follow Jesus, can we remain vigilant to God’s Word?
Romans 3:23 "All Sinners, All God’s Family" Since we all need God, can we see how we are all the same?
Romans 2:3 "God Judges, Not I" Are we judging others for their sins and forgetting our own?
Romans 1:16 "Ashamed of God" Are we more fearful of God or humanity when we proclaim the Gospel?
Luke 11:31 "Pursuing Wisdom, Pursuing God" Are we aware how close God is to us and are we making the most of it?
Luke 11:28 "Blessed by God’s Gift" How can we be blessed if we reject God’s gift of Jesus Christ?
Luke 11:16 "Demanding God" Are we ignoring the signs in our lives God is showing us?
Malachi 3:20 "Hearts Set on God" Is our fear of God driving our lives or are we succumbing to the will of the world?
Jonah 4:1 "Angered by God’s Mercy" Do we seek harsher judgement on people we dislike and can’t accept God’s abundant mercy?
Luke 10:40 "Do Not Burden God" Are we letting our problems overcome how we approach Jesus in prayer?
Jonah 1:3 "Stop Running from God’s Mission" Are we spending every part of our days spreading Jesus to the world?
Baruch 4:28 "Embracing God Always" Are we aware that we need to constantly repent since we tend to not follow God’s way?
Baruch 1:22 "Sinning in Front of God" Are we aware that by keeping our hearts away from God we begin to offend God?
Nehemiah 8:10 "Rejoicing in God and Not Saddened" Do we realize that only relying on Jesus can deliver us from all pain and suffering?
John 1:48 "God Knows Us" Are we seeing Jesus as both human and God?
Zechariah 8:21 "Living to Reflect God" Are we attracting others to Jesus by the way we live?
Zechariah 8:6 "All Possible with God" Do we let our fears limit seeing the saving power of God?
Luke 9:44 "Focusing on Jesus’ Passion" What does Jesus’ passion mean to us and are we praying enough on it?
Haggai 2:8 "God over Gold" Do we put so much of our attention on money and wealth instead of God who is greater?
Luke 9:9 "Truly Seeing Jesus" If we don’t approach our Christian faith with sincerity in getting to know Jesus we will never see God.
Ezra 9:6 "Ashamed of Sin" Are we really repentful of our sins before we ask God for forgiveness?
Ephesians 4:2 "Being Patient and Gentle" Are we willing to be patient and humble with those we dislike?
Psalm 126:2 "In God There Is Joy" Are we letting our problems dominate our hope in God’s joy?
1 Timothy 6:16 "Are We Honoring God?" Do we truly understand how God is unmatched?
Psalm 49:18 "Choosing God or Wealth" Are our days oriented on gaining money or gaining God?
Psalm 111:10 "Gaining Wisdom" Do we realize that wisdom begins with respect for God?
1 Timothy 3:15 "Behaving in Front of God" Do we act differently when we think God is not present?
Numbers 21:5 "Rejecting God" Do we realize that by rejecting God’s gifts we are rejecting God?
1 Timothy 2:1 "Pray for Others" What is preventing us from praying for our enemies?
Luke 6:46 "Jesus is Our Lord" Are we fulfilling God’s commandments or just pretending that we are?
1 Timothy 1:12 "Worthy for Ministry" Can we be like St. Paul and accept God’s call to a particular ministry?
Colossians 3:17 "In Jesus’ Name" How different would we be if we did everything in the name of Jesus?
Matthew 1:20 "Changing for God’s Plan" Are we able to change our life plans for God’s plan for us?
Colossians 2:8 "Follow God, Not Man" Can we tell if others are leading us to Jesus or themselves?
Luke 6:11 "Appreciating God in Others" Do other people’s blessings enrage us?
Colossians 1:15 "Seeing God. Seeing Jesus." Are we getting to know Jesus so we can see God the Father?
Luke 5:11 "Leaving Everything for Jesus" Are we truly giving up everything to follow Jesus?
Luke 4:38 "Expanding the Church" Are you bringing Jesus home from church?
1 Thessalonians 5:10 "Living for Jesus" What are we sacrificing for God?
Luke 4:20 "God Speaks" Are we focusing on Jesus the right way?
1 Thessalonians 4:3 "God’s Will" Are we setting ourselvs apart and being Holy for God?
Psalm 90:3 "God Forms Dust" Are we grateful for all God has done for us, including each breath?
Psalm 139:8 "God is Everywhere" Are we ignoring God and all God has offered us?
John 1:46 "Invite Others to Jesus" Are we passionate in our love for Jesus so that others are attracted as well?
1 Thessalonians 1:2 "Thankful For Church" Are we reaching out to our sisters and brothers for us all to remain in communion with God?
Matthew 23:3 "Attentive to God" Are we following God speaking to us through people or just a person who lacks God?
Psalm 146:8 "God Raised Me" Are we allowing God to lift us up past our troubles and suffering?
Matthew 22:12 "Changing for God" Are we lying to ourselves that we have no sin and refusing to repent?
Matthew 20:12 "Love Equally" Do we reflect the same mercy and compassion God has for us to others?
Judges 6:14 "God Change Me" Despite all the evil in the world are we letting God move us to respond with love?
Matthew 19:21 "Jesus Over Everything" Can we let go of our desires for wealth and riches in order to hold on to God?
Joshua 24:15 "Choosing God Today" We may call ourselves Christians but do we really know what it means to be a disciple of Christ?
Joshua 24:13 "God Gives Us Everything" If all we have is a thanks to God, why do we claim ownership over things?
Matthew 18:21 "Forgiving Like God" Do we consider how much God has forgiven us when thinking about forgiving others?
Psalm 66:17 "Praise God First" When we pray, are we allowing time to glorify God instead of just asking for things?
2 Corinthians 9:7 "Giving God's Love" Are we having the same joy when we share with others or are we giving purely out of obligation?
Deuteronomy 10:14 "God is Great" Can we appreciate how out of God's greatness God decided to create us, forgive us, and love us?
Matthew 17:16 "Bring It to Jesus" Do we act as a church community and come together before Jesus with our problems?
Mark 9:5 "Jesus is Right Here" When God is being revealed in our everyday lives, are we making it about ourselves?
Numbers 20:2 "Gathering for a Solution" Do we as a chuch community work on coming together or turning against one another?
Matthew 15:23 "Blocking God" Are we blocking others from praying to Jesus or do we feel rejected by other Christians?
Matthew 14:31 "Path of Jesus" Are we stumbling in following after Jesus with our crosses?
Psalm 81:13 "Choosing God" God gives us the choice to follow Jesus or our desires. Where does our heart lead us?
Matthew 14:12 "Take It to Jesus" When life over burdens us, do we take it to Jesus or do we try to deal it all by ourselves?
Matthew 13:58 "Responding to Jesus" Do we have enough faith to respond to God's call to us?
John 11:26 "Life in God" Are our lives centered on us dying or are they focused on everlasting life with Christ?
Psalm 99:6 "God Answers" How and when do we approach God in our daily prayer?
Exodus 33:7 "God Among Us" Are we taking full advantage of God's close proximity to us through Jesus Christ?
Psalm 106:20 "Not Giving Up God" Are we keeping God first in our lives or are we prioritizing other things?
Matthew 13:25 "God Over Enemy" Are our lives reflecting the divisiveness of the devil or the loving gathering of God?
Psalm 19:9 "Seeing With God’s Word" Do we live in God's truth or is our view on life covered by the darkness of lies?
2 Corinthians 5:15 "Love As We Are Loved" How much does Jesus' Sacrifice on the Cross drive our daily lives?
Matthew 13:2 "Gathering for Jesus" Are we helping in building God's church by bringing people together?
Exodus 14:31 "God’s Power" Are we being moved by the power and might of God or do we ignore God's miracles?
Exodus 14:14 "Be Still for God" Are we letting our fears affect our complete trust in God?
Matthew 12:15 "Jesus Walks Away" Are we following after Jesus or are we dwelling in the evils of the world?
Psalm 116:12 "Grateful to God" Are we continously aware of the many blessings from God?
Matthew 11:30 "Yoke of Jesus" Are we tied down to Jesus or being tied down by fears and concerns?
Exodus 3:5 "Stepping Into Holy" Are we approaching God differently than how we approach other things that aren't divine?
Matthew 11:20 "Jesus Reproaches" With all Jesus has done for us, are we still not responding to God's call?
Matthew 10:40 "Receiving God" Are we open to inviting in others into the God's church family?
Genesis 50:19 "Reserved for God" Are we able to relinquish our power and leave the judgement to God?
Genesis 46:4 "God With Us Always" Can we overcome our fears and trust in God as God leads us in life?
Genesis 45:5 "Saving Lives" Are we bringing Jesus into every aspect of our lives?
Psalm 33:10 "God’s Will, Not Mine" Are we resisting the will of God with our own intentions and desires?
Genesis 32:31 "Reverence to God" What are the ways we can humble ourselves more and more as we approach God?
Genesis 28:16 "Recognizing God" Are we open to see God in our everyday lives through scriptures and others?
Ephesians 2:21 "Jesus My Glue" Are we uniting ourselves to Jesus who holds all things together?
Matthew 9:10 "Communing with Jesus" Are we failing to join in communion with God because of our sins?
Genesis 22:8 "God Provides" Are we still trusting in God despite our concerns, fears, and opposition?
Matthew 8:34 "Shooing Jesus Away" Are we rejecting God's grace, love, and communion?
Acts 12:11 "God Is With Us" Are we allowing ourselves to fall down into our fears and not be lifted up by God?
Matthew 8:19 "Following Jesus" Have we realized that all of scripture points to Jesus and are we committed to follow Christ?
Genesis 18:15 "Truth of God" God calls out our lies and things we conceal. Are we open to face the truth?
Genesis 17:1 "God Almighty" Once we recognize God's greatness are we willing to follow God with Faith like Abraham?
Luke 1:66 "The Hand of the Lord" Can we recognize God at work in others just like people recognized John the Baptist?
Matthew 7:20 "Fruits of Disciples" Are our days spent gathering God's harvest or are we actually not working for God's Kingdom?
Matthew 7:13 "The Narrow Gate" Are we willing to give up everything to follow Jesus?
Psalm 33:13 "On Earth as in Heaven" Do we recognize how God in Heaven is very present to us here and now?
Matthew 6:25 "More to Life Than" Are we spending our days for the earthly that perishes or for God who is life?
2 Corinthians 11:30 "Boasting of God" How have we humbled ourselves today to show others of our love for Jesus?
Matthew 6:7 "Babbling to God" Where is our focus when we pray to God? Is it on ourselves or God?
2 Corinthians 9:10 "God the Supplier" Do we recognize that all that we have is thanks to God's generosity?
Matthew 5:44 "Praying for Enemies" Although it is difficult, we as Christians must love our enemies.
2 Corinthians 6:3 "Stumbling Others" Do our actions bring God to others or pushes them away from God?
2 Corinthians 5:20 "Reconciled to God" Are we focused on remaining in communion with God at all times?
Ephesians 3:19 "Knowing the Fullness of God" Are we seeking God or seeking knowledge in our lives?
Psalm 85:9 "Listening for Peace" Why do we spend so much away from Jesus when only with God do we have peace?
2 Corinthians 3:4 "Confidence in God" Do we really comprehend how Jesus made a close relationship with God the Father possible?
Matthew 5:16 "Be the Light of God" Are we reflecting God to the people around us today?
Matthew 5:1-2 "Jesus Teaches from Above" Are we being attentive to the divine instead of the earthly?
Mark 12:40 "God Excuses, We Cannot" What sins are we covering up hoping that God does not notice?
Psalm 146:2 "God in My Soul" Are we being grateful and thankful to God throughout our day?
Tobit 8:8 "Prayer Before Bed" What can the married couple of Tobiah and Sarah teach us today?
Mark 12:27 "Not Misled by the Living God" With Ressurection, where is our focus? On the death or the life?
Mark 12:17 "Amazed at God, But Why?" Why are our expectations of God so low when God is almighty?
Luke 1:46-47 "God-Centered Like Mary" Mary shows us how to stay focused and joyful with God in us.
Mark 11:33 "God Knows, We Do Not" How often do we assume we know more than God Almighty?
Mark 10:52 "Liberty to Follow" After all the healing Jesus is doing on us, are we turning our attention to God?
Mark 10:38 "Asking Jesus Ambitiously" Are we properly focused on Jesus' resurrection or are we still seeking earthly things?
Sirach 35:12 "Generous as God" God has given us so much. Can we imitate God's generosity?
John 19:27 "Behold Your Mother" Can we listen to Jesus' guidance in times of pain?
John 21:22 "Don't Worry, Just Follow" Is our concern on loving Christ or being envious of others?
John 21:17 "Do We Love Jesus?" Do our actions and activity throughout our day reflect our love for Jesus?
