The LORD takes the smallest to do amazing things (Mark 4:26-34). Saint Therese, the Little Flower, comes to experience God’s graciousness as the “little way.” She states: “To reach perfection, I do not need to grow up. On the contrary, I need to stay little, to become more and more little.” So, then,...
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade. +Mark...
Mark 4:26-34 In the Gospel Reading this Sunday, Jesus tells two parables about the growth of the Kingdom of God. Each story has a different purpose. The first parable emphasizes the seed’s own growth. Neither can the farmer can give the seed the power to grow nor make its gradual growth happen. The second parable...
“Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14 ESV). Charity is the fundamental duty of a Christian. It is what makes one an intentional disciple and a church or parish a community of intentional disciples. All spiritual initiatives, programs and resolutions are only of value to the degree...
Several family graduation ceremonies all over the country – 5 in all! – relayed a similar message celebrating growing up to adulthood. However, Jesus says otherwise: “Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mark 10:15). Intentional disciples do no grow up – they...
God is our Father – let us love Him. He cares for us beyond imagining – let us trust Him. His one desire is for us to be with Him – let us place our lives entirely in His hands.
Let us always remember God’s Presence within us. Speak simply and lovingly to God. A hundred times a day, wherever we are, we can draw near to God in comfortable conversation, asking for God’s assistance real time in all our little needs of the day. Intentional disciples know God hears us and share in regular...
Matthew 28:16-20 God makes Himself known to the whole world. He is our Father who loved us so much that He offered up His Son for us and, more than that, granted us His Spirit so that we can recognize God as boundless love. The baptized person ought to know whose life has been received...
This small book offers simple steps for reawaking the Christian imagination within ourselves, our families, our parishes and our society: “From Christendom to Apostolic Mission” The Christian Faith is first an extraordinary adventure; a journey not of own invention but whose delights are given to us by God along our way according to His splendid...
Pentecost means “fiftieth”. For Jews, Pentecost was the feast for the upcoming harvest, celebrated 50 days after their spring celebration of Passover. For Christians, Pentecost is the plentitude of God’s gift to humanity celebrated 7 weeks after Jesus’ final Passover, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the community of believers given to us in...
