Faith Above Fear

As we mark this Saturday in the Third Week of Lent, the Gospel from Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 hits close to home. It's the story we've all heard the Parable of the Lost Son, or as I like to call it, the Merciful Father. Tax collectors and sinners were crowding around Jesus to listen, but the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So Jesus shares this parable: A father has two sons. The younger one demands his inheritance early, takes off to a distant country, squanders it all on wild living, and ends up starving among pigs. Humbled and broken, he decides to return home, ready to beg for a job as a hired hand. But the father spots him from afar, runs to him, embraces him, and throws a feast, saying, "This son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found." Meanwhile, the older son resents it all, he's been faithful, but never got a party. The father pleads, "Everything I have is yours,...

Sixteen days into Lent and our sixteenth resolution is Getting rid of all addictions. Today's Gospel from Matthew 4:4 (NABRE) echoes powerfully in Jesus' response to the first temptation: “He said in reply, ‘It is written: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”’ This was Jesus’ reply to Satan when tempted to turn stones into bread to satisfy His physical hunger. Though it is a rejection of Satan’s foolish attempt, it goes much further than a rejection. It also identifies the mission we all have in life. The “word that comes forth from the mouth of God” is the Word of God. Jesus is that Eternal Word. Because Jesus’ endurance of the desert was a sacrificial act of love for us, then what He speaks here is especially for us as we endure our temptations in life. Jesus is saying to us: Do not live for that which is passing, but live for that which is eternal. What is eternal is all that He revealed and gave to us as t...

Fifteen days into Lent and our fifteenth resolution is Being better everyday. Today, let's focus on a verse from the Gospel of St. Mark 12:29–30 (NABRE) proclaims the greatest commandment: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Why would you choose anything less than to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, with ALL your mind, and with ALL your strength? Why would you choose anything less? Of course, we do choose many other things to love in life, even though Jesus is clear with this commandment. The truth is that the only way to love others, and even to love ourselves, is to choose to love God with ALL we are. God must be the one and only focus of our love. But what’s amazing is that the more we do this, the more we realize that the love we have in our lives is the kind of love that overflows and overflows in superab...

Fourteen days into Lent and our fourteenth resolution is Being more humble. Today's Gospel from Matthew 4:5 (NABRE) draws us into the second temptation: “Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple…” As we ponder this lofty temptation in detail, the devil placed Jesus high on the Temple's parapet, a flat roof's edge where scribes and teachers sat in prideful display, elevated in vainglory and self-importance. This spot symbolized empty glory, a false shine the devil offered to many religious leaders of old, who eagerly embraced it for passing praise. That glory was hollow, granted by the “ruler of this world” to those craving superficial light, not the deep truth of God's honor. Jesus sought no such vanity, He desired all to know Him as Son of God, to glorify Him for who He truly is, worthy of eternal praise, not fleeting acclaim. We fall to empty glory when we chase others' opinions: What do they say of me? ...

Thirteen days into Lent and our thirteenth resolution is Being more grateful and less of complaining  but today's Gospel from Matthew 20:20–21 (NABRE) invites us to reflect on a deeper aspect of growth in holiness: Being better everyday means embracing the path of humble service and willingness to drink the chalice of suffering, rather than seeking worldly glory or comfort. This resolution calls us to daily improvement in virtue, but true progress comes not through ambition for status, but through surrender to Christ's Cross and rising in His grace. What a bold move by the mother of the sons of Zebedee! A common misconception at that time was that the Messiah would usher in a new political and earthly kingdom and those who held positions of power in this kingdom would bask in earthly glory. However, Jesus’ mission as the Messiah was to establish a far superior Kingdom through His Passion and Resurrection. These two disciples, along with their mother, did not yet und...

Twelve days into Lent and our twelfth resolution is Reciting the Angelus at 6 AM, 12 PM, and 6 PM. This beautiful Marian prayer, rooted in the mystery of the Incarnation, invites us three times each day to pause, remember the moment when the Word became flesh, and unite ourselves to Mary's “yes” to God. As we reflect on the significance of the number “forty” in Scripture and in our Lenten journey, the Angelus becomes a powerful anchor calling us back to the Incarnation that makes our entire desert pilgrimage possible. “Forty” is a significant number with clear symbolic meaning. Jesus’ forty days in the desert remind us of the forty days that Moses spent on Mount Sinai when he saw God “face to face” and received the Ten Commandments, the basis for the covenant of the Old Law. The Old Law was but a prefiguration of the New Law of truth and grace that Jesus came to institute. Thus, during these forty days, Jesus becomes the New Moses on Mount Sinai, preparing to present to...

Eleven days into Lent and our eleventh resolution is Frequently going for Adoration. Today's Gospel from Luke 4:24 (NABRE) strikes a powerful chord: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Do you recognize Christ’s presence in others? Do you sense His divine presence all around you? In today’s Gospel, the people of Nazareth did not. Jesus, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, stood in their midst, yet they failed to see Him for who He truly was. Many of them had watched Jesus grow up, knew His family, and were familiar with His work as a carpenter. However, they could not look beyond the surface to perceive the divine reality in their midst. Though our Lord is not present to us today in the same way He was to the people of Nazareth, He is still with us in countless other ways through grace, within the Sacraments, in the Scriptures, and especially in the Blessed Sacrament during Eucharistic Adoration. Yet how often do ...