“Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you – for you alone? He burns with desire to come into your heart…go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love.” + Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower
Category: Pastor’s Pondering
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Preaching Notes (Sun) 9/29
As a child, Thérèse went to Sunday Mass. Even after the death of her mother, her father continued this habit every Sunday with the children. It was through her encounter with the Eucharistic Lord Jesus that she received special graces. Showing up always is the first step. During her First Communion, she suddenly experienced an...
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Mass is the Center (9/17)
Mass is the center of the Christian life. Everything else Christian – the prayers we pray, the Scripture we read, the corporal works of mercy we perform, the spiritual disciplines we practice – finds their meaning in the Mass and never apart from it.
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What Is Mass? (9/17)
“Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) At every Mass, God expects us to do something. God expects us to present ourselves as we are ever in need of His power, His grace. It is for each of us at Mass to make self-offerings – offering to God our labors, our joys, our sufferings,...
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God Alone (9/11)
“God Alone” is the motto and the title of the collected writings of the popular French priest and author Saint Louis de Montfort (d. 1716). Look to Christ. Resist temptations to elicit affirmation for what you do and recognition for what you accomplish. Furthermore, don’t expect others similarly laboring for Christ to understand you. Don’t worry...
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It’s Hard to be Humble (9/3)
Humility is to charity what the foundation is to a building. Although the foundation is separate from the building, it is essential. The more secure the foundation, the more stable the structure. In this very way humility is the bedrock of Christian life and intentional discipleship. Sometimes God applies a severe mercy to deepen the...
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Martha and Mary II (7/18)
Progress in the interior life leads to sharing love more generously and cheerfully. The contemplative soul becomes the ever more loving soul. When our sights are set squarely on Christ, we meet Him in all our activities.
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Martha and Mary (7/16)
This Sunday we will hear the short Gospel account of Jesus visiting Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). Committed Christians experience increasing desires for solitude and generosity. Committed communities of believers – parishes – witness the same. Sadly, such can be especially difficult to find. Intentional disciples want to pray silently, to sit at the feet...
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Spiritual Pursuit (7/9)
The spiritual life likens a child who comes upon a crossroad. The two diverging roads require a decision. Actually the choice remains a daily resolution, even moment to moment. One way leads the soul ever more entirely into the calm and confidence of God’s Kingdom. The other is a riotous self-referential route unable to satisfy....