Free Mustard Seeds

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul proclaimed, "do everything for the glory of God!" (1 Cor 10:31)  God's glory is the visible manifestation of God's awesome majesty.  This reflection focuses on the glory of God in marriage, in the lives of the sick and in our everyday lives.

The famous verse from psalm 95 rings out from one generation to the next, "oh that today you would hear His voice."  Our faithful Father loves to speak with His children.  We consider His fidelity, how He speaks, what happens when He speaks and how we can grow in our ability to listen to our Good Father.

After the Lord revealed His presence to Samuel and called Samuel by name, the scriptures tell us that none of Samuel's words were without effect. (1 Sam 3:19) When we "behold the Lamb of God" in the secret place, our heart to heart union with God, from the fullness of a heart filled with God's electrifying love we speak! (Lk 6:45)

Rooted in God's love, a familial reality, we are able to receive God's love (grace!) as we continue to make a gift of our lives to God in selfless love.  Rooted and receiving, we are positioned to release God's love to the world around us.  God's aim for this release is the transformation of our families, workplaces and everywhere the soles of our feet tread as the love of God's kingdom pours forth.  

The angel Gabriel assured Mary, "nothing will be impossible for God."  This was not a one time proclamation, as Jesus himself reassured his disciples in Matthew 19 that "for God, all things are possible".  He is Emmanual, God with us, and as we learn to live more intentionally in the presence of God with faith, wisdom and courage, we will see the impossible bow at the name of Jesus. 

In the Gospel of John we John the Baptist echoing the prophet Isaiah "make strait the way of the Lord".  The Living God speaks these words anew to us in Advent, inviting us into a deeper, more ardent desire for God...a desire that God both gives us and blesses come Christmas with new life in His Holy Spirit.  

From the lips of John the Baptist, and Jesus himself, we hear of being baptized in the Holy Spirit.  Pope Benedict spoke of this gift as "being aware of what we have received in Baptism and Confirmation."  On our Advent journey prepare, and ask for, an entirely new awareness of God's presence in our lives come Christmas. This is the gift God desires to give us...which points toward God's ultimate desire for us.

We will all stand before Christ the King to be judged one day, what will make us ready?  He wants us to know...

In the parable of the talents, Jesus teaches us the true riches of His love are not to be hidden away, but given away, so that all might know Him!  Looking at some of the important points of Blessed Solanus Casey's spirituality, we consider how we too can bring the healing love of Jesus to all we encounter...

In the parable of the 10 virgins, Jesus teaches us to be ready for the final wedding described in the scriptures...the wedding feast of the Lamb.  There, Jesus will receive his bride, the Church, into the eternal wedding feast of heaven.  How are we to get ready?   The lamps the 10 virgins carry in the parable are symbolic for us.  By living in the fire of God's love (Hebrews 12:29), and nourishing our lives lived with God through the oil of devotion, we are made ready for Jesus, the bridegroom (Mark 2:19).

As Jesus calls out the hypocrisy of some of the Scribes & Pharisees in Matthew's gospel, He calls out to us as well to live as a priestly people He has won for His own.  And when we do, there we find, receive & share in God's amazing blessings...

At a special mass for the youth of St. Moses the Black, the children voice their dreams for their lives & listen to God's dream for theirs as well.

God has a destiny for you.  God chose you before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4).  You were made in God's image & likeness (Gen 1:26).  To be a Christian is to be an "anointed one".  To live in the anointing is to lean into your destiny...

So often we are distracted from the gift of the present moment.  So often our awareness of God's loving presence seems to slip away.  Jesus tells us he is The Vine and we are the branches, called to bear fruit for God's glory.  He wants to give us the grace to live every moment in His presence...

At The Engaging the Young Church Conference at St. Anastasia Catholic Church in Troy, the radical power of prayer is looked at...

At a gathering of ministry leaders at St. Clare of Montefalco we consider what a parish full of joyful missionary disciples would be like...

At a gathering of ministry leaders at St. Clare of Montefalco, the topic of living as a joyful missionary disciple is looked at...

In St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians, St Paul tells the Christians he is writing to, to have within them the same attitude that Jesus has.  Through grace, God offers us this very reality...

As children of our merciful heavenly Father, Jesus teaches us that we too must extend his mercy and forgiveness to those who have wronged us.  This can be extremely difficult, but by participating in His merciful love (His grace) we are able to forgive, which in turn sets us free from tangled webs of unforgiveness. 

"The love of Christ impels us" St. Paul once wrote.  It is the love of Jesus that can give us the courage to reach address the sin of another, not as their judge, but as their brother or sister in the Lord seeking to help them.  Disciples share in the very life of Jesus and the Church continues his rescue mission...