Recall the last time you had company come to your home. Maybe it was family visiting from out of town or a friend you hand't seen in awhile. How did you prepare for them? You likely cleaned the house, planned nice meals, and cleared your schedule to spend time with them—all the while looking forw...

The word conversion comes from the Latin word convertere, meaning "to turn around." When was the last time you were driving somewhere and got lost on the way to your destination? Maybe you were following the directions, but they led to the wrong place. Or maybe you thought you could figure out ho...

There are many paradoxes in our Christian Faith. For example, there are three Persons in one God; this God made something out of nothing; God's mother is one of his creations, etc. It can be easy to respond by simply ignoring the discrepancies. But these paradoxes are not meant to be ignored. The...

When we are asked to entrust our lives to someone, we should consider whom we are entrusting them to very carefully. Many of us entrust our lives to our spouses, but not before careful discernment, time, and prayer. Have you ever considered entrusting your life to God? Have you gotten to know him...

The first two readings today focus on the relationships with our family. We are told that honoring and respecting our father is of the highest importance and, if we are faithful to this call, we will be blessed by God. When we read the Gospel, the theme changes from focusing on our earthly family...

The magi in today's Gospel had the wisdom and openness to see the light of the star and follow it. They were on watch, just as we were during Advent, and had a heart willing to follow the light that they saw. They set aside the tasks of daily life in order to worship the Messiah. Are we willing t...

"Come and see." This is the method of God. He doesn't just want to give us answers, but to live life with us. When the disciples follow Christ, the Gospel says that they "stayed with him." When we stay with God, we can begin to hear and see clearly, and begin to find him in the quiet of our hearts.

Though it can be easy for us to live our days as though Christ hasn't come, he has. And when he came, he fundamentally changed our world and redeemed it. His kingdom has come, and as Christians we are called to shake ourselves from the illusion of this world and to be witnesses to the presence of...

Destruction is a powerful force. When we hear of it, we often picture devastating events or moments. However, with the death of one thing, newness follows. Sometimes in our lives we feel that Christ is asking us to destroy parts of who we are to come closer to him. Why do we feel this way? The sh...

Though we may never fully understand suffering, we can be certain that God desires to heal us and bring value into our suffering. He sent us his only Son to suffer and die for our salvation, and through this mystery we can glimpse how suffering can make us more like him. But we first need to ask ...

Have you ever had a moment of silence where you realized that the mundane tasks of life were preventing you from living to the fullest? While we do need to take care of the daily necessities, sometimes we live a half-hearted life of "just getting by." But Jesus wants to give us life to the full. ...

In her wisdom, the Church gives us this reading at the beginning of Lent because Jesus is giving us an example of what the season of Lent is meant to be for us. Lent is a time to remember the reality of our life on earth. In the way that Lent prepares us for Easter, our life on earth is meant to ...

If you have ever been hiking in the mountains, you'll know what a false summit is: when you reach a peak that appeared to be the pinnacle of the mountain but see that the true summit is even higher. False summits can cause hikers to give up, despairing of ever reaching their goal.
This experienc...

Today's readings are the midway point in our Lenten journey, focusing on the relationship between God's laws and the state of man's heart. The First Reading begins with words many of us have heard frequently throughout our lives—the Ten Commandments. Before giving all of the Commandments, God pro...

Have you ever walked from a dark room out into the sunlight? It hurts. You end up squinting and wiping away tears from watery eyes. It takes time to adjust, and you may wish to return to the darkness where it's a bit more comfortable. Think of the reverse scenario: when you go from the sunlight i...

Many of us fear death. It brings sadness and an unknown. We may have experienced the grief of losing a loved one, and we may be angry that God allows death. But today's Gospel lends itself to hope. Jesus tells us that we must die in order to have new life. What a strange command. Let's pause a mi...

This Sunday we find ourselves at a crossroads. As we approach the great mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection, we are coming to the end of our Lenten journey. It is a time to both look back and reflect, and to look forward and prepare.
Holy Week is a unique time in the Church calendar where...

Happy Easter! This is truly a day to rejoice and be glad. In fact, the Catechism tells us that Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the "Feast of feasts." It is the day that we look forward to all year long, in much the same way that we look forward to Heaven our whole lives long. Tod...

God's merciful love is the Good News of the Gospel, and the reason why Christ suffered, died, and rose again. The Catechism goes so far as to say that, "The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners" (CCC 1846). God's mercy reached down to us in our sinful state and sent ...

Each Sunday Jesus invites you to share a meal with him—to encounter him in the most intimate of ways. How do you approach the Mass? Do you show up late, wearing what you worked in all day, and with your laundry list of "to-do's" on your mind? Jesus wants to encounter us and touch our hearts every...