Friends, we come now to one of the most important periods of the liturgical year: Lent. During this time of preparation, the Church asks us to cultivate a deeper friendship with God through prayer, to control and reorder our desires for physical goods through fasting, and to show our love in the ...

Friends, our Gospel this Sunday focuses on a leper kneeling before Jesus, saying, "If you wish, you can make me clean." A lot of us, in our sin, feel like a leper; we feel we are unclean, ostracized, and unworthy of forgiveness. Nonsense! The Gospel invites us to confidently approach Jesus, and t...

Friends, in this Sunday's reading, St. Paul affirms what stands at the center of his life: preaching the glad tidings that God has won the victory over sin and death, thereby liberating all creation. Paul's whole life revolved around this good news, and so it must be for us.

Friends, Moses is, without a doubt, the greatest figure in the Old Testament. He heard the voice of God from the burning bush; he was chosen to lead the people Israel to freedom; he was given the Ten Commandments; he was permitted to speak with God as a friend. Every teacher within ancient Judais...

Friends, this Sunday we hear the story of Jonah, a narrative about the acceptance (or rejection) of God’s mission. What would happen if every single person in our society commenced to embrace his or her mission from God? Jonah converted the entire city, from the King to the very animals. Imagine ...

Friends, as we return to Ordinary Time, today’s readings have a very practical and timely message. We find, in the first reading, the prophet Samuel and his mentor, Eli, working together to understand the call of the Lord. We, too, need to work to discern his call through our deafness and the noi...

Friends, today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, when Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River. The baptism of Jesus was a source of embarrassment for the early Church, who wanted to portray him as a powerful son of God; but that is, in some ways, the point. He stands in th...

Friends, on this Epiphany Sunday, we reflect on the wonderful story of the journey of the Magi. Many marvelous spiritual lessons can be distilled by examining the devotion these wise men had for the Christ child. They teach us to follow and trust in the Lord’s leading, to honor him with the best ...

Friends, God cares for the world in a way that confounds us. He is faithful to his promises, but they often don’t arrive as we expect them to. We see this in the readings today as God’s promise to David that his throne would last forever is fulfilled five hundred years later in Jesus. In Jesus an...

Friends, today is Gaudete Sunday. It is a command to rejoice, for Jesus has made us rich through his entrance into poverty. We are reminded both by Pope Francis and the Gospel reading that we must reach out to those on the periphery, suffering from poverty—whether economic, political, or existent...

Friends, in the first reading today, we hear of a people exiled from their homeland of Jerusalem, in need of a highway to bring them home safely across the rough terrain. In the Gospels, we find a people still in need of that highway home, but this time because of a spiritual rather than physical...

Friends, Advent is when we reflect upon the arrival of our Savior who came to ransom his people. We cannot think to ourselves, “I’m basically fine, spiritually.” Rather, we must be penitent; we must remember our lonely captivity. This liturgical season is about shaping softened hearts, making the...

Friends, Christ is the King of all things. His rule is characterized not by totalitarianism or despotism, but rather by lovingkindness and sacrifice. He constantly reaches out his hands to defend the weak and sick, going to the limits of godforsakenness to bring back those who have wandered. We c...

Friends, we must develop a theology and spirituality of work. Meaningful labor awakens our desire to collaborate in God’s creativity. Viewing work in this way—as spiritual and moral action—conquers our melancholy, gives us dignity, and brings us into unity with the purposes of the Lord.

Friends, there’s a great temptation for us to turn the Lord into a distant spiritual entity or a difficult moral taskmaster. We incorrectly believe that we have to crawl our way to the divine by our own heroism, merit, and effort. But this is not the case. In actuality, God, in his wisdom, hasten...

Friends, there’s only one real sadness in life—not to be a saint. But what does it mean to follow this path of righteousness? To follow the will of God, and God wills that we habitually direct our actions and thoughts to the good of others. Jesus says blessed are the merciful, the peacemakers, th...

Friends, the Books of Moses teach that the three types of Israelite law—liturgical law, ritual law, and moral law—shape and direct God’s people toward holiness and purity. While the liturgical laws have been carried over and the ritual laws largely set aside, the moral laws remain unchanged, for ...

Friends, a great theme of the Bible is that of God’s chosen people. At the same time, we also see that God’s salvific plan has to do with all of humanity—and indeed with all of creation. God chooses Israel—and the New Israel, the Church—precisely for the sake of the whole world. Remembering this ...

When we, together, fall in love with the transcendent love of God, we can turn “swords into plowshares.” What will settle the conflict in the human heart? Self-surrendering, alongside our brothers and sisters, to the glory of God.

Friends, in biblical imagery, the vineyard symbolizes the people of God. The Lord nourishes us as our caretaker, but he desires (even demands) that we bear good fruit. The Mass, the Eucharist, the teaching office of the Church, priests and bishops—through these means and through the Church, God c...

Friends, our own wickedness and virtue belong to oneself. Though our communities and background stories affect our mind and will, nevertheless, the individual stands alone in the presence of God. We show God and the world who we are by the integrity of our moral acts. What we do defines who we ar...

Friends, God is close to us, even in our suffering. But it seems inexplicable that he could preside over our calamities, and so we ask, “How could God do this to me?” But the Lord’s ways are not our ways, and our capacity to truly understand his will is limited. We must therefore place our trust ...

Friends, forgiveness is about bearing the burden of the other—what justice requires them to carry, you carry for them. How we forgive others is tied tightly to God's forgiveness of us. If the Lord gives you grace in seventy times seventy ways, you must mirror the same for the brother or sister wh...

Friends, fraternal correction is the act and art of constructive criticism. It's easier than ever today to engage in uncharitable discussions and unjust gossip about one another, especially online. But instead of publicly participating in hypercriticism, we should rather—with compassion and care,...