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...
Resist temptations to rush back to the way it was. Now is the perfect opportunity to reflect on who it is God has created you to be, what His plan and purpose is for your life and how He will equip you with grace to live more freely, generously and joyfully.
It never really has been about restoring normalcy. Good grief, it wasn’t normal before the pandemic! God is reaching into our hearts and calling us back to Him. He is sounding a clarion call for us to ponder deeply what it means in for Jesus Christ truly to be our Lord, Savior and Messiah. God...
In 1999 the bishops of the United States transferred the celebration of the Ascension of Our Lord to the 7th Sunday of Easter. Intentional disciples take the command of our blessed Lord to heart and preach the Gospel wherever they are. Indeed, Christ Jesus established the Church to spread God’s Kingdom so that all people...
What are the commandments of Jesus that we must keep to remain in His love (John 15:10)? We must love one another with a love that is continuous and lifelong (v.12a) and the measure of our love is to be the supreme act of Jesus’ love for us (v. 12b). The National Shrine of Our...
6th Sunday of Easter John 15:9-17 According to Jesus, abiding in Him is something that is easily seen by others. Intentional disciples know that abiding in Jesus’ love means doing something and that this doing happens to the degree we configure our lives to His commandments.
Good fruits can only come from a good tree. Are we producing the good fruit Our Lord expects of us? Do our interactions with friends help draw closer to Our Lord? Do we yield fruits of peace and cheerfulness among those whom we encounter each day?
“Abide in me” (John 15:4). Jesus tells us to “abide” in Him because we already have been grafted onto Him. This spiritual engrafting, an accomplished fact, is made possible for everyone by His death on the Cross and it immediately became effective for each one of us at our Baptism. By grace – power –...
“I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser… Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15: 1, 4). Jesus strongly affirms that divine grace and redemption are made available...
