Category Archives: Weekdays

Friends in Christ,

It is not uncommon for us, to try and blame our own, inner failures on external things. ‘My husband just provokes me to anger all the time.’ ‘If I didn’t have these irritating neighbors, I would be calm, everything would be fine.’ ‘I would be pure in our relationship, if my girlfriend would only stop leading me down the wrong path.’ ‘I could be holy if only I had a decent Church in my neighborhood.’ If, if, if…

We want to blame our own sins and failures on externals, on things other than ourselves. We might call this a form of ‘rationalization.’ Our Lord today says ‘no’ to this thinking. He says that it is from within the heart that come ‘evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, envy, blasphemy, arrogance. All these evils come from within.’ William Barclay says, ‘this is a truly terrible list which Jesus cites, of the things that come from the human heart. It is a call to an honest self-examination of our own souls.’

No matter what situation we are in, no matter the externals of our life: family situation, work situation, THAT person who is against us – the Lord gives us the grace that we need to walk serenely and calmly through life, praying for our enemies, praying for help in time of temptation, keeping order and calm in our own, inner world.

St. Josemaria says,[i] we can be ‘immersed in the world, with hungry lions all around, yet never losing our peace, never forgetting that the Lord will work all the miracles we need, if and when we need them. If we are humble, and call on the Lord in every temptation and every situation, then ‘we will be safe in any environment. Jesus wants us to be full of honesty with ourselves, and never blame external things or circumstances for our own failures.

It is from within the human heart that comes the start of any sin. That means, that, relying on God, we can conquer every trial in our life: As the Apostle says, ‘I can do all things, in him who strengthens me.

[i] Friends of God, p. 153.

Friends in Christ,

Today we read of this gruesome death of St. John the Baptist.  How did it come

down to this?  It is because he had told King Herod that he was wrong to have

taken his brother’s wife. John  the Baptist ultimately  was put to death because

he  had tried to show  Herod the right way  of living.  In the Christian life,  this is

called Fraternal Correction …..  more

Friends in Christ,

Today we see this beautiful miracle of Jesus, raising the little girl back from the dead, and this miracle points us to what he will do for all of us one day: raise us

up from the dead. As Our Lord enters this room – the parents having brought

him there – Jesus says, ‘she is not dead, but asleep.’ And it tells us that the crowd who  had followed,  ‘ridiculed him.’  In another translation  it says ‘they laughed

him to scorn.’  ….  more

Friends in Christ, today Our Lord gives us the parable of the sower. He says that some of the seed sown by the sower falls on the path, and the birds eat it. Some on rocky ground; it grows without roots, the sun makes it wither. Some falls among thorns, and is choked. And some falls on fertile ground, producing fruit. When we hear Our Lord’s parable, we see that it is very true to life ….. more

Jesus is with Us! Good morning children of St. John Vianney! Today, in the gospel we see that Jesus chooses his 12 disciples. It says that he did it for three reasons. 1. that they would go forth and preach – that means teaching the people 2. that they would cast out demons. 3. and the third reason he chose these apostles, is so that they could be with him.  Today we wish to talk about this last reason: that they could be with him …. more

Friends in Christ,

In the Gospel today, Our Lord seems to be weary – so many people, so many sick and lame, and he is healing them and they are traveling from town to town – it said that the whole town was at his door; but Our Lord needs to find some peace, to rest in his heavenly Father, to be refreshed;  therefore we read: ‘He left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed….. More

Friends in Christ, from the time of Adam and Eve, the world had waited for the Savior. The mysterious events set down in the Old Testament pointed by symbol to the coming Redeemer. The prophets foretold his coming, and by the time of Christ, the world of the Jewish people was in a ferment, an almost palpable feeling that the time was near. It was in that climate, that we encounter today the sleepy little town of Nazareth. Let Fr. Goodier[i] explain it to us today:

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‘It was here in Nazareth that the boy Jesus had grown up, for close to 30 years it was his happy home. The hills around were full of memories of his boyhood, and it was inevitable that his heart should still linger in that little town. On the morning of the Sabbath, Jesus was to be seen making his way through the narrow streets to the synagogue. There in the old days, he had taken his turn in reading. Today they would ask him to take his turn again, he might have something to say about all that he had been doing – how he had gathered some followers, and something that happened at Cana with the wine.

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Word spreads quickly in a small town, and soon the synagogue was full of anxious people, who wondered about this local son of theirs. Invited to the pulpit to read, he accepted as if this were but one more ordinary occasion. Rising from his seat near the back, he came forward and the scroll of Isaiah was handed to him.

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And he read: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he had anointed me; to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll he gave it to the attendant, and sat down.

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Jesus was strangely quiet. They had just heard the words of Isaiah speaking about the Redeemer who would come. Jesus’ manner, his quiet, held them; and the eyes of all were gazing on him. Then firmly, as would speak a master in Israel, the words rang through the silence of the synagogue: ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

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Friends, who can imagine what was in the minds of the people of that small town. The entire world had awaited the great redeemer; so what has just been said to them? If we were there, in that room, I know that our hearts would be full of happiness, to know that the Redeemer has come.

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[i] The Public LIfe of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Alban Goodier, p. 130 (Vol II)

Luke Winkelmann

Friends in Christ, today in his Epistle, St. John says: ‘We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.’

During this Christmas time, God has made it abundantly clear how much he loves us: he sent his dear Son to save us from our sins. St. Alphonsus says, ‘O Lord, you could foresee my sins and my destruction, and so you prepared the remedy. You could foresee my ingratitude, and you prepared for me contrition in my heart and the consolation of your love.’……More

Friends in Christ, we have spoken this Christmas season about the connection of the Christ-child in the manger with the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist, at Mass. We have also spoken, of the meaning of the word, ‘Bethlehem. It means, House of Bread. So Jesus comes down from heaven and appears on earth in the ‘House of Bread. The Eucharistic theme is unmistakable….More