This evening, our “Consoling the Heart of Jesus” group retreat members put on the weekly Fellowship Dinner for our parish. I can’t even begin to explain what a joyous occasion that it was. I am scrambling, trying to pull together our summer faith formation program that begins on Monday, but there was no way I was going to duck out of this dinner. I was looking forward to seeing some of our group members, who I hadn’t crossed paths with in a long while. But the event very quickly became more than that. The hall was packed, the food was great, everyone was in good spirits, but after I led…

“Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the wilderness I make a way; in the wasteland, rivers.” I do. I see.

Today, I checked in for my first silent retreat. I had considered attending the two years past, but there was something that interfered (or perhaps a good excuse) and prevented following through. This time, I opted to join the retreat mid-week. Let’s just say I was thinking it might be best to dip my toes in for a few days rather than dive in for the full week. Just in case … I don’t know what I was worrying about. Within a few short hours I have realized that this was exactly what my heart and soul needs. I have graduated, my Lord and God, from the quick weekend group…

In my morning readings and prayer today, I came across a commentary by Thelma Hall in “Too Deep for Words” that struck home. I wanted to share it here with you. “…contemplative prayer is not a rare reward for excellence or virtue – nor is it a “spiritual high” to be pursued for our own gratification, much less a singular mark of God’s special love or approval … It is a effect of being literally “in love” with God…” Yes, please.

Jesus tells us in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And for many of us, at least at one time or another in our lives, we hear those works and think how burdensome it is to keep those commandments, how stifling, how difficult. Yet, what Christ asks of us in this verse isn’t any more than what we ask of our children, our loved ones, or those we supervise. Keep my commandments. We expect others to treat our rules and requests with respect and to honor them; especially out of love! So ask yourself, how can you expect this of others if you are not…

“Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me’.” Peter clearly expresses feelings of unworthiness and Christ corrects him immediately and explains that such a feeling is an obstacle to final beatitude. No inheritance. Inheritance is a legacy, a birthright, an endowment, or an elevation to something greater. When we feel unworthy, we are filled with self-doubt and it definitely guides our behaviors, our words, even our body-language. We ask ourselves, how is it possible that we are deserving of something so wonderful? If we wallow in those feelings of self-doubt, we put up a…

Psalm 66 pulls me in. Not just because it’s a great number (for all of you who are Lemieux fans like me – just a little hockey joke to lighten the mood) but because there is one particular line that makes me feel excited. It makes me really think. That line inspires me to try to do what I do, to do it better, and to do it for the right reasons. “Come and hear, all who fear God; I will tell what God has done for my soul”. This little line, for me, is a realization of what ‘works’ for me in the ministry of catechizing, evangelizing, and inspiring.…

“Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief’.” A little context here … a nobleman has given coins to a few individuals in the hope that they will invest his treasure while he is away in search of kingly power. If we think about the coins given as the gifts that God has given us (our talents, special skills, abilities, charisms) we might have quite an ‘ah-hah’! sort of moment. Those who have traded or invested the wealth and gained interest are rewarded upon the King’s return, but this last one has tucked the treasure away. Granted,…

“There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is’, or ‘Look, here he is’. Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.” Personally, in this verse I see a message that cautions us against any practice, devotion, trend, personality, or fad that might draw me away from prioritizing Mass, Eucharist, Reconciliation, prayer, and the practice of virtue. What Christ modeled for us, what he did for us, was perfect and is perfect. There’s no improvement to perfection. No ‘new’ way or better way to achieve it. Prioritization of the basic elements of faith is crucial to a successful relationship with God and spiritual journey.