Finishing the Course

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 30th, 2017
Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

HERE was a man who hated Jesus Christ… until he encountered Him. Meeting Pure Love will do that to you. St. Paul went from taking the lives of Christians, to suddenly offering his life as one of them. In stark contrast to today’s “martyrs of Allah”, who cowardly hide their faces and strap bombs on themselves to kill innocent folks, St. Paul revealed true martyrdom: to give oneself for the other. He did not hide either himself or the Gospel, in imitation of his Savior.Continue reading →

True Evangelization

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 24th, 2017
Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

THERE has been much hullabaloo since Pope Francis’ comments a few years back denouncing proselytism—the attempt to convert someone to one’s own religious faith. For those who did not scrutinize his actual statement, it caused confusion because, bringing souls to Jesus Christ—that is, into Christianity—is precisely why the Church exists. So either Pope Francis was abandoning the Church’s Great Commission, or perhaps he meant something else.Continue reading →

Peace in Hardships

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 16th, 2017
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

SAINT Seraphim of Sarov once said, “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you, thousands will be saved.” Maybe this is another reason why the world remains unmoved by Christians today: we too are restless, worldly, fearful, or unhappy. But in today’s Mass readings, Jesus and St. Paul provide the key to becoming truly peaceful men and women.Continue reading →

On False Humility

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 15th, 2017
Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Opt. Memorial of St. Isidore

Liturgical texts here

 

THERE was a moment while preaching at a conference recently that I felt a slight self-satisfaction in what I was doing “for the Lord.” That night, I reflected on my words and impulses. I felt shame and horror that I might have, in even a subtle way, attempted to steal a single ray of God’s glory—a worm trying to wear the King’s Crown. I thought about St. Pio’s sage advice as I repented of my ego:Continue reading →

The Great Harvest

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…behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat… (Luke 22:31)

 

EVERYWHERE I go, I see it; I am reading it in your letters; and I am living it in my own experiences: there is a spirit of division afoot in the world that is driving families and relationships apart like never before. On the national scale, the gulf between the so-called “left” and “right” has widened, and the animosities between them have a reached a hostile, nearly revolutionary pitch. Whether it is seemingly impassable differences between family members, or ideological divides growing within nations, something has shifted in the spiritual realm as if a great sifting is occurring. Servant of God Bishop Fulton Sheen seemed to think so, already, last century:Continue reading →

A Crisis of Community

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 9th, 2017
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

ONE of the most fascinating aspects of the early Church is that, after Pentecost, they immediately, almost instinctively, formed community. They sold everything they had and held it in common so that everyone’s needs were cared for. And yet, no where do we see an explicit command from Jesus to do as such. It was so radical, so contrary to the thinking of the time, that these early communities transformed the world around them.Continue reading →

The Refuge Within

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 2nd, 2017
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Memorial of St. Athanasius

Liturgical texts here

 

THERE is a scene in one of Michael D. O’Brien’s novels that I have never forgotten—when a priest is being tortured for his faithfulness. [1]Eclipse of the Sun, Ignatius Press In that moment, the clergyman seems to descend to a place where his captors cannot reach, a place deep within his heart where God resides. His heart was a refuge precisely because, there too, was God.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Eclipse of the Sun, Ignatius Press