Christ is the ultimate realist; he knows the human heart (after all, he made it), and doesn’t want to stifle it – he wants to set it free. At first glance, the lessons of today’s gospel seems simple and straightforward; at second glance, they are shocking.
On the surface, this lesson is about humility and generosity:
Writer’s block was no stranger to John Steinbeck. Allegedly, while writing The Grapes of Wrath, he got stuck for six months searching for just the right word. The word he finally settled on was “strove.”
“The plants strove against the sun.” More…
Nothing is more important than our friendship with Christ.
Why is that? More…
In the middle of today’s Gospel, St Peter raises his hand to ask our Lord, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” Jesus answers him with another parable to illustrate what a faithful steward is and concludes with these words to underscore his point (in response to St Peter):
“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
Our post-modern, consumer culture does not allow us to reflect much on stewardship. When we hear the word “steward” we might think of Stew Leonard’s or this man: More…
Blaise Pascal once wrote:
“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.”
The picture above, taken from the bottom portion of Rafael’s Transfiguration,could stand on its own as separate painting. As a composition, it appears to be complete. Yet even to the viewing eye, it certainly lacks something. By itself, its meaning is not clear. More…
St John Vianney
St John Vianney was well known as the humble, austere, potato-eating priest from Ars, who spent hours hearing confessions, by day, and dueling with the devil, by night. Little was it known how much he valued money. More…
I think we can all relate
Father! The first word Jesus teaches us to say when we talk to God.
As St Teresa of Avila observes, prayer is “nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” Fundamentally, prayer consists in cultivating our personal relationship with God. From there, everything else follows.
To illustrate his point, in today’s Gospel Jesus uses a parable of a man pestering his neighbor for bread. Imagine if Jesus’ parable were told differently. More…
Gospel then: In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells Martha that she’s anxious and worried about many things and seems to imply that she’s stressed out because in the midst of her activity she’s forgotten the one important thing.
Gospel now: Everyone is too busy nowadays. When it comes to prayer, we constantly hear the typical objections – No time. Even when we make the time, the prayer itself can be “too busy,” mechanical, and routine. Our prayer reflects our busy lifestyle and vice versa, because we typically live as we pray and pray as we live. To live a better life, we must learn to pray. More…
Saints are those who best understand the lesson of the better part. St Phillip Neri understood the lesson well. More…
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5
Martha needed to learn that what we do for Christ has to flow out of what we are for him: true and devoted friends. More…
Biltrix 