Anchored In The Lord

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time The learning process never ends - we continue learning our whole life long.  Our life of faith is meant to grow our whole life long as well: "disciple" means "learner".  In our readings today God calls certain people to follow Him - the big call.  But we also see God asking daily favors of those who already follow him - the small calls.  As disciples of Jesus, God is calling us, in big ways and small, to deeper faith, to lives of service, to lives of prayer, to following these spontaneous and often inconvenient calls that bring about His Kingdom in our lives and on this earth.  What small calls does He have in store for you this week?

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Have you ever been accused of being like your parents?  Usually, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  On this Father's Day weekend, Jesus asks his disciples, and us, "Who do you say that I am?"  If we take Jesus at His word, then we believe that He is the Son of God the Father, and that in Jesus we are also sons and daughters of a heavenly Father.  Jesus was like His Dad: "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."  As followers of Jesus, as sons and daughters of God, do we live and act and talk in such a way that others can accuse us of being like our heavenly Father?!

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time Our readings today show that we have a God with an attitude of forgiveness.  As God's people, we are called to take on this same attitude.  Whether it's something as small as bad driving or as large as lifelong divisions and family rifts, we are called to begin living our lives with an attitude of forgiveness.  Unforgiveness is exhausting; we carry around the weight of resentment and bitterness.  These people and situations don't deserve to have that kind of hold on us.  Forgiveness lightens us, frees us to live life the way we were made to live it!

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time The readings today announce God as the giver of life - physical and spiritual.  God wants us to live rich, fulfilled, happy lives.  In the Gospel Jesus raises a dead man to life by the touch of His hand.  Is there a part of my life that seems lifeless?  Is there an area in my life that is not as rich, deep, and fulfilling as I'd like it to be?  Today, ask Jesus to lay His hand on you, and to bring that part of you back to life.

Corpus Christi At the Mass we celebrate each weekend, when the priest says those words in the name of Jesus - "This is my body...this is my blood...." - bread and wine are transformed entirely into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  How might your daily life be different if you experienced Jesus Christ with you, in you, next to you every hour of every day of your week?  When we receive Communion, Jesus is physically with us, in us, next to us...and He stays with us every hour of every day, even if we don't realize it.  How will this change your week?

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity From all eternity God has existed in a relationship of love - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  These Three Persons of the Trinity are so united in love that they are actually 1 God.  This is the amazing faith we proclaim every time we make the sign of the cross.  And we have personally experienced this life of God: every single time we experience love, we taste for a moment the Trinity - for 'God is love' (1 John 4:8).  That's what we look forward to in heaven.  That's why, when we don't feel like we have anymore love, patience, kindness or compassion to give during the daily grind, we ask for strength from God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Then we start loving with Trinitarian love.

Pentecost The Holy Spirit comes on this Pentecost day to strengthen us in 3 ways: In our relationship with Jesus Christ In defending the faith In spreading the faith Every day this week, pray, "Come, Holy Spirit.  Come, Holy Spirit.  Come, Holy Spirit."  When you're relationship is faltering, when the Church is being looked down on, when someone needs to hear the good news of Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit who will give your His strength and His words to speak into that situation!  Come, Holy Spirit!

Solemnity of the Ascension After a brief word from Pope Francis ; ) we celebrate how Jesus ascends today into heaven.  This ascension is still happening every time a faithful soul passes from this life into the next.  Those who are in heaven cheer us on and assist us in our ascension to God.  But even when every soul is in the presence of God, heaven will still be waiting: waiting for the resurrection of their bodies, and waiting for God to create a new heavens and a new earth.  The ascension happened 2,000 years ago, it's happening today, and it will be happening until God's master-plan of salvation is entirely fulfilled.

6th Sunday of Easter Our 1st reading opens with a controversy: Paul and Barnabas preaching salvation in Jesus one way, another group preaching salvation in Jesus another way.  Who's right?  What's the true faith?  The first Christians, with a deep sense that the Holy Spirit would guide the Church to the true faith, brought their dispute to Jerusalem and the apostles.  Presently, we bring our disputes to Rome and the successors of the Apostles - the bishops and Pope - confident that it is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church to truth, as Jesus promised. 

4th Sunday of Easter Congratulations to all of our students who received their First Holy Communion this weekend!  There is an exhortation for priests that says, "O Priest of Jesus Christ, celebrate this Holy Mass as if it were your First Mass, your Last Mass, your Only Mass."  Whether you've been receiving the Eucharist for 1 year or 100 years, whether you're young or old, I challenge you at every Mass you attend to make that exhortation your own: attend that Mass as if it were your first Mass, your last Mass, your only Mass; and receive Communion as if it were your first Communion, your last Communion, your only Communion.

3rd Sunday of Easter We are blessed to have an amazing Pope right now - Pope Francis!  And in our Gospel we hear one of the great Biblical texts supporting the papacy: Jesus singles out Peter to fee his lambs and tend his sheep.  In this we see Jesus' commissioning of Peter as the first shepherd of His Church, the first Pope.  Passed down through the centuries, this office of head shepherd has kept the Catholic Church united as one, even in the midst of seemingly insurmountable struggles and difficulties. Thanks be to God for giving us the gift of the papacy, that we may all stand together to praise and worship our God with one voice throughout the world!

2nd Sunday of Easter To ask God questions, to seek to understand the "Why?" behind our beliefs or events in our life, is not a lack of faith.  Rather, it's an indication of faith.  We are a people of faith seeking understanding - it's precisely our faith that drives us to want to understand where and how God fits into these events and beliefs.  In the resurrection story from our Gospel today, I think Thomas generally gets a bad rap.  Jesus doesn't punish him for questioning, wondering, doubting - Jesus answers him!  So we shouldn't be afraid to ask questions, to be discerning, to be skeptical; if we do these things honestly and sincerely, the Lord will answer and our faith will be deepened.

Happy Easter! What the Father did in raising Jesus from the dead, He also wants to do in us: God wants to raise us up - literally, at the end of life, but also right now, figuratively, in our present life.  God wants to raise us up to a rich life filled with purpose, meaning, deep happiness and joy!  Jesus came that we might have Life (with a capital "L").  What's weighing you down?  What's holding you back?  What things keep you from rising?  Jesus rose today so that He could walk with you, carry your load, and give you Life!  Invite Him now to be a part of your life again; give Him permission to enter; ask Him again to raise you up - that's all He wants!

We enter now into the holiest week of the year as we walk with Jesus through His final days, culminating with His death and resurrection.  We heard today the reading of the passion narrative and we are invited to personally enter into this Holy Week so that we might die with Jesus and rise with Him on Easter.  For us, this week will be as holy as we make it - so let's make it a good one!

5th Sunday of Lent What if you were alive when Jesus was preaching and teaching?  What if you were a part of the stories in Scripture?  What if you heard Jesus speak to you?  God's Word is living and active, and the same God who was at work then is still at work now.  Lectio Divina ('Divine Reading') is a way of reading the Scriptures by inserting yourself into the story - the sights, the smells, the sounds, the feelings - you read through a passage slowly, place yourself in the story and experience what God has to say to you through His living Word.  Try it!  It'll change your life.

4th Sunday of Lent Pain in our body warns us that something is wrong - physically.  Pain in our interior life warns us that something is wrong - spiritually.  Both the younger son and the older son in today's Gospel experience pain.  It's pain that leads the younger son home.  It's pain that keeps the older son from going back inside his home.  Pain, as a warning, is also an invitation: an invitation from our merciful Father to come home, to come back inside, so that we can experience the feast that God is preparing for us!

3rd Sunday of Lent Jesus is serious in today's Gospel: "But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"  When we sin, we choose 'Not-God', and we get exactly what we want - 'Not-God' - that's the definition of hell.  Jesus came to save us from this choice, so He calls us to repentance - to take full responsibility for our mistakes and to beg for God's forgiveness, to turn away from sin and turn toward God.  Then Jesus can finally do what He's been waiting to do - He can take away our sins and fill us with His life!  Then we know, by experience, the mercy of the Father.

2nd Sunday of Lent In the midst of our Lenten journey, we catch a glimpse today of Jesus transfigured in glory atop a mountain.  This Jesus who was seen by Peter, James and John is the same Jesus who has appeared to us, who has tangibly broken into our life at moments, who has woken us up, if only for an instant, to the reality of His presence in and around us.  What are some of your mountaintop moments?  These experiences are meant to strengthen us for the journey.  When the road seems too long, remember the view from mountaintop, and keep your eyes open...who knows when you'll suddenly find yourself on top of another mountain?

1st Sunday of Lent Lent is a great opportunity for us - an excuse to slow down a little bit, turn off the TV, turn off the radio, and spend some extra time with our Father.  Our Lenten practices shake us out of our daily routine and provide us an opportunity to look up to our God.  Jesus in the desert wins against the temptations of the devil by looking up to His Father for strength.  In the midst of your Lenten practices, do you do them by your own will power?  Or do you let these practices turn your heart and mind to the Father in true and honest prayer?   Then even the simplest actions will give your faith a supernatural strength.

Ash Wednesday The ashes of today remind us that we are dust, and to dust we shall return.  But in the certainty of death is also our hope - we know that we are more than ashes, that the Lord has breathed life into this dust, that we are filled with God's Spirit, that death is not the end - we're headed somewhere!  So, how are you doing on the way?  What Lenten practices will you take up in order to better hear God's daily calls and act on them?  Lean on Jesus this Lent, and He will give you the strength to live it! Some Lenten daily reflections I suggest: Dynamic Catholic: Best Lent Ever - http://dynamiccatholic.com/bestlentever/ Bishop Barron's Daily Lent Reflections - http://www.lentreflections.com/