We live in troubling times. It is easy for us to panic, to become anxious or worried and to lose perspective. Fr. Kevin Stephens, O.P., reminds us that even Jesus was “deeply troubled.” Christ has taken on our flesh, carried our sins, and he can take our worries and anxieties as well. We may be troubled, but we must trust in the Lord. For like it says in Isaiah, if we are like a polished arrow in the hands of God, we know that we shall find our mark.
Most of us have probably gone through a really difficult phase where we needed someone else to uphold us. We needed their support, love and kindness.
This week we are drawn into the incomprehensible love of Jesus for each one of us, and if we open our heart, even just a little bit, we will stand amazed on Easter Sunday at the new life given to us by God’s generous love.
WASHINGTON – Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has invited the faithful to join him in a moment of prayer on Good Friday (April 10) to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart.. . . Praying together as a nation, the archbishop asks that we seek healing for all who are unwell, wisdom for those whose work is halting the spread of coronavirus, and strength for all God’s children.
Reflections from my good friend Msgr. Lavalley on Palm Sunday. He distinguishes between being able to receive the sacraments and choosing not to, an act of indifference and maybe sin, from the desire to receive the sacraments and not being able to, an act of love.
Reflections on the fourth word from the Cross from Jesus from my good friend Msgr. Richard Lavalley. This reflection is well worth listening to today.
The Gospel exposes the scapegoating both of Christ and of so many people in our world today. Fr. Mark Wedig, O.P. points us to Christ. Christ who becomes the despised through the agony of His Passion and he is united with all those who society victimizes and abuses through violence and hatred. But it is there that violence stops. Violence stops at the Cross.
And more than stopping, the nonviolence of the Cross, Christ’s willing suffering, reverses the savagery and hatred of groups and transforms it and us in an all together supernatural manner. Violence stops at the Cross and with Christ Crucified.
God is not always practical. His plans are not always pragmatic. Sometimes, perhaps often, God’s plans are incredible, that is, difficult to believe. We are called to love enemies and persecutors. We are called to help the poor, the refugee, the migrant. It is in giving that we receive.
It is so easy to criticize. It is even easier to criticize when our evil intentions get pointed out to us. When we choose to do wrong, and someone corrects us, we usually do not thank them.
Christ asks us not merely to trust and believe in his words, but to trust in what he has done for us and what he continues to do in us in our lives today. It can be hard for us to believe mere words, even if the words are those of Christ himself and the words of the Church. But in these moments of difficulty we are called to believe because Christ has come into our lives like a great wind. He has healed us, freed us, and redeemed us. And we, through Christ’s saving action, has transformed us into vessels of His Living Word.
