There is a Longing

                 We all have a serpent, don’t we?  Actually, we have three: the world, the devil, and the flesh, or our “self”.  These are opposed to God and draw us away from Him.  The world would have us busy ourselves with its endless array of concerns and preoccupations; the devil seeks to steal our heavenly reward and claim us as his own; and our flesh, ever caught up in itself, has a long list of things it supposedly needs.              And so, with these three serpents entwined around us, it is clear that we have a challenging task before us, if we wish to be free of them.  We have two models presented to us today of how we can handle our serpents.              First, we have Adam and Eve.  What did they do?  Fell into the temptations of the devil.  There is nothing more pai...

"The ashes mean I'm a sinner. The cross means I have a Savior." Fr. Mike Schmitz

              Sometimes you have to search a little bit to find the connection in the readings.  But not today.  From the first two readings we hear “ Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy, ” and “ The Spirit of God dwells in you…the temple of God, which you are, is holy. ”  And in the Gospel, we are told “ So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. ”             We are reminded of that universal call which draws us sanctity.  God created us uniquely, apart from the rest of creation, in His own image.  This isn’t to say that we do or can possess God’s divinity.  Rather, in His infinite goodness, God allows us to share in His blessed life in heaven, while on earth we must strive to prove ourselves worthy of such a gift.  The lowliness of our sinful nature makes this seem impossible, but God, giving Himself to us as a Father, look...

               A few years ago, I heard a beautiful story told at a talk and it really touched me.   To my dismay, I eventually forgot the details, making it impossible for me to find a written account of it. However, I held out hope that I would stumble upon it someday throughout my various reading materials…and I was not disappointed! A few weeks ago, as I was working through Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s St. Therese , I found the story, captured in more detail than before. It took me by surprise, as finding it wasn’t on my mind at that moment, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise!                I want to share some of my delight and tell the story. So here is the account (taken from the book, which credits the story to the Cardinal Kung Foundation):                      “There was a little Chines...

Once again we share a quote from the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. He's definitely been someone to quote often.  Yesterday was Valentine's Day & as such, images of hearts were quite abundant! However, Archbishop Sheen had a different take on the heart & I just love this! “The human heart is not shaped like a valentine heart, perfect and regular in contour it is slightly irregular in shape as if a small piece of it were missing out of its side. The missing part may very well symbolize a piece that a spear tore out of the universal heart of humanity on the Cross, but it probably symbolizes something more. It may very well mean that when God created each human heart, he kept a small sample of it in heaven, and sent the rest of it into the world, where it would each day learn the lesson that it could never be really happy, that it could never be really wholly in love, that it could never be really whole-hearted until it rested with the Risen Christ in an eternal Eas...

Well, the first month of 2023 is over & we are well into the month of February. Many at this point have given up or failed in keeping their New Year's resolutions. (I personally tend to set goals instead of resolutions, but that's a thought for another day.) Was adding more prayer to your life one of your resolutions or goals this year? Are you finding it difficult to follow St. Paul's directive to "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17)? I would like to share some ways of adding more prayer to your daily life. You don't have to use them all or even any of them. They are merely suggestions to help get you started. Some may work for you; some may be too difficult. There are many other ways not listed here. Over the years, your prayer method may change depending on your stage of life. 1) The Five Finger Prayer (aka The Hand Prayer): This prayer has been attributed to Pope Francis, but I became aware of something similar many years prior to his pontif...

Matthew 5:17-37                We have two options for the Gospel today.  Matthew 5:17-37, or the shortened version, which consists of parts from Matthew 5:20-37.  In both, our Lord establishes a higher standard, so to speak, for those who wish to follow Him.   Oftentimes these days, we are criticized, or we criticize others for going to the extreme.  Indeed, it is not uncommon to be tempted into overdramatizing even the most ordinary of our daily lives, or things that simply don’t deserve the degree of attention that we give to them.  In these instances, we make out the ordinary to be extraordinary; we embellish and exaggerate those things which are more beautiful when left to their natural modesty.  However, there are times when extreme is the only option. When we can firmly declare, “all or nothing.” Probably the greatest “all or nothing” that will ever exist is our response to God.  Call to mind the...