“Do you not understand this parable?” We, who are blessed to hear the word of God and let it set deeply in our souls, desire the seed of God to flower to full-bloom. Living in this garden requires a personal pruning, feeding, and watering to keep it alive. In the first reading we hear, “By […]

Memorial of St. John of the Cross Jesus poses a question for us today, asking if the present generation would be “like children who sit in marketplaces” playing games and complaining when the other children do not play along. The present generation of Jesus’ day listened neither to John the Baptist nor to Jesus. But […]

Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Close your eyes for a moment and let the above words resound in your mind. They swiftly find their way to the heart. We imagine Jesus’ voice, the voice of God calling. In today’s responsorial, we hear “Your words […]

We hear the words “Be imitators of God” in today’s first reading. We again hear it in the responsorial psalm (“Behave like God . . .) which brings us to the gospel where Jesus heals on the Sabbath and is indignantly criticized by the leaders of the synagogue. We enter God’s presence in a very […]

The Passion of John the Baptist St. Paul prays in the first reading that “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with [us] all.” In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, grace is, “our participation in the life of God.” Our life in God is born of the cross of Jesus Christ, a life-giving […]

In today’s first reading “our eyes are streaming with tears.” We are overwhelmed, consumed by hunger and thinking about our incurable wound. Our eucharistic Lord is our restoration. Jesus shows us the way to salvation: the way of the cross by his life, death, and resurrection. “He who sows good seed is the Son of […]

Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Eucharist gives us hope that we also may truly be children of the living God—children that are cared for like St. Peter in the first reading, who was freed by an angel even though secured by chains. Each of […]

“For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Those who followed Jesus did not have the courage to embrace the reality of their baptismal crosses, their key to entering eternal glory. Our human existence inclines us to lord it […]

“Children, have you caught anything to eat?” In the sunrise Jesus is already standing on the shore waiting for us to cast our nets. We are called to cast our lives into God’s love to catch suffering souls by transforming what is crippling them, as John and Peter did in our first reading, “…the crippled […]