Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A place to explore your calling to be a Catholic Priest

A great site calledA vocation to be a Priest was recently brought to my attention and seems to be a great place to start... Written by teens for teens, it seems to be pretty good.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Who is the greatest? The question we hear being discussed by the apostles in this weekend's Gospel passage is one that still plagues us. We jockey for position, put just enough of a religious spin on it to make it appear that we are trying to live the Gospel out. The question is not who is the greatest, but who are we serving? Are we serving ourselves, our pride, and our own positions? Are we serving others without counting the cost or expecting repayment, simply because it is the right thing to do? We need to examine our motivations and passions and ask the Lard to purify them.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

There are certain questions that every single believer needs to ask. The questions are asked by Christ throughout the Gospels, and the question in this weekend's Gospel is important: Who is Jesus Christ? Answering the question is only the beginning - what does it mean for us? Are we willing to take up our cross to follow Him. As St. James instructs us in the second reading, our faith is empty unless we are willing to do works (after all, submission of belief in Christ is also a work according to St. John). May we follow Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ephphatha - Be opened - Christ still speaks to us by opening our ears and mouths. We are like the deaf mute in today's readings, without Christ unable to really hear and speak of God. But Christ, God made man, speaks to us and heals us. Let Him open our ears to hear Him, our lips to praise Him, our Hearts to worship Him, and our hands to serve Him!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

From within us, from our unredeemed hearts, evil pours forth, as we hear in this weekend's Gospel. God's law is to put the limits on this evil, but more important, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, redeems us and makes us capable of true transformation. After listening to the Bread of Life discourse, it is perhaps most appropriate that we return to the Gospel accord to Mark with this passage. The Eucharist is Christ given to us, and at every Mass, we have the re-presentation of Calary - Christ's grace poured out for us, and - in our reception of Christ - in us! How great God is in giving us His Law, and that Word of God that is planted in our souls. May we allow it to grow, and in doing so, allow Him to direct us to all that is good and holy.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Lord, to whom shall we go," St. Peter responds to the question of whether they, too, were going to leave. Many had stopped walking with Jesus - of course this is more than just being with Him. It meant that they no longer followed Him and allowed Him to teach them. The disciples who remain do so not simply because they understood every word of what Jesus said, but rather they knew Him and that He is God, and that His words were for eternal life.

We are asked to follow Jesus Christ, to walk with Him. We, too, might not understand every word thoroughly, but we place our faith in Jesus Christ. May we follow faithfully.